Capital World Investors Has $1.56 Billion Stock Holdings in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,221,228 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 323,636 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned about 3.40% of United Rentals worth $1,564,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of URI. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of United Rentals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,147,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in United Rentals by 8.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,295 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,717,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of United Rentals by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of United Rentals by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 996,014 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $862,110,000 after acquiring an additional 57,002 shares during the period. Finally, American Trust increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 206.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,207 shares of the construction company's stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on United Rentals from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised United Rentals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $702.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group downgraded shares of United Rentals from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $910.00 to $485.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of United Rentals from $1,000.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of United Rentals from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $705.00 to $666.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $729.79.

Insider Activity at United Rentals

In other United Rentals news, CFO William E. Grace sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $638.10, for a total transaction of $701,910.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,390,128. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Rentals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:URI traded up $59.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $648.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,066,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,335. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.72. The company's 50-day moving average price is $619.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $729.21. United Rentals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $525.91 and a fifty-two week high of $896.98.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a return on equity of 34.21% and a net margin of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. United Rentals's payout ratio is currently 18.48%.

United Rentals Company Profile

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.