Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Holdings in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,009 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,140 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Toll Brothers were worth $3,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Toll Brothers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,117,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 5.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 180,023 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,659,000 after purchasing an additional 9,195 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the third quarter valued at about $12,506,000. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 22.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,005 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,554,000 after acquiring an additional 4,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,226,271 shares of the construction company's stock worth $154,449,000 after buying an additional 341,980 shares during the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toll Brothers Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE TOL traded up $2.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $100.73. The company had a trading volume of 3,035,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,984. The company has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.48. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $95.00 and a one year high of $169.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.93.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 14.03%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Toll Brothers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. This is a boost from Toll Brothers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Toll Brothers's payout ratio is 6.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on TOL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $164.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $189.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Toll Brothers from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Toll Brothers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.57.

Insider Transactions at Toll Brothers

In other news, Director Christine Garvey sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,107.88. This represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.54% of the company's stock.

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.