Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ford Motor (NYSE:F)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ford Motor (NYSE:F - Free Report) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,464,980 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 336,720 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Ford Motor were worth $15,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in F. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Ford Motor by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 865,037 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $10,848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Ford Motor in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Merchants Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter worth $202,000. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Ford Motor by 66.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 17,464 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 6,943 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 48,901 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. 58.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ford Motor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ford Motor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Ford Motor from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ford Motor has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.83.

Ford Motor Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE F traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 86,037,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,437,789. Ford Motor has a 12-month low of $9.49 and a 12-month high of $14.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The firm has a market cap of $39.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.62. The business's 50 day moving average is $10.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.24.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $46.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. Ford Motor had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 16.16%. The firm's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Ford Motor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.18%.

About Ford Motor

Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments.