Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) Upgraded to “Hold” at Seaport Res Ptn

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) was upgraded by Seaport Res Ptn from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $165.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target (down previously from $166.00) on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.00.

Toll Brothers Stock Performance

NYSE:TOL opened at $137.52 on Monday. Toll Brothers has a 1 year low of $97.45 and a 1 year high of $169.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $138.97 and a 200-day moving average of $142.37. The company has a current ratio of 4.92, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.74.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.34 by $0.29. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.11 earnings per share. Toll Brothers’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Toll Brothers will post 14.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine Garvey sold 204 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.78, for a total value of $25,659.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $972,027.84. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $1,404,419.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,599,311.26. The trade was a 35.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,202 shares of company stock valued at $1,947,436 in the last three months. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toll Brothers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Toll Brothers by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,118,459 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $327,281,000 after buying an additional 1,046,758 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Toll Brothers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $111,562,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Toll Brothers by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,226,271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $154,449,000 after buying an additional 341,980 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Toll Brothers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,985,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Toll Brothers by 228.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 232,180 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,243,000 after buying an additional 161,408 shares during the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Toll Brothers

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.