KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 24,700 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,111,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in TOL. FMR LLC grew its stake in Toll Brothers by 97.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,118,459 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $327,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,758 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Toll Brothers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,615,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Toll Brothers by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,226,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,449,000 after purchasing an additional 341,980 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Toll Brothers by 228.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 232,180 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,243,000 after buying an additional 161,408 shares during the period. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Toll Brothers in the third quarter valued at approximately $23,629,000. Institutional investors own 91.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TOL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Toll Brothers in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Toll Brothers from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (down previously from $166.00) on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Toll Brothers from $156.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Toll Brothers currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.57.

Insider Transactions at Toll Brothers

In other news, Director Christine Garvey sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.58, for a total transaction of $46,443.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,107.88. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total value of $1,404,419.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,599,311.26. This trade represents a 35.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,764 shares of company stock worth $1,476,523. 1.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Toll Brothers Stock Performance

NYSE TOL opened at $109.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $120.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.91. Toll Brothers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.49 and a 1 year high of $169.52. The company has a current ratio of 4.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 14.03%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Toll Brothers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Toll Brothers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.88%.

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.