Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases Shares of 79,005 Victoria's Secret & Co. (NYSE:VSCO)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Victoria's Secret & Co. (NYSE:VSCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 79,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,272,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.10% of Victoria's Secret & Co. at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VSCO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Victoria's Secret & Co. by 326.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. by 61.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 5,549 shares of the company's stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. 90.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. from $53.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. from $40.00 to $24.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Victoria's Secret & Co. from $46.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Victoria's Secret & Co. from $47.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.09.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder International Pte Ltd Bbrc acquired 542,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.32 per share, for a total transaction of $9,387,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 8,695,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,597,729.08. The trade was a 6.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 1,503,973 shares of company stock worth $26,617,312. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Victoria's Secret & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:VSCO traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.92. 2,793,261 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,918,476. Victoria's Secret & Co. has a 1 year low of $13.76 and a 1 year high of $48.73. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $22.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.40.

Victoria's Secret & Co. (NYSE:VSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.10 billion. Victoria's Secret & Co. had a return on equity of 44.74% and a net margin of 2.47%. Sell-side analysts expect that Victoria's Secret & Co. will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Victoria's Secret & Co. Company Profile

Victoria's Secret & Co operates as a lingerie, clothing and beauty retailer. It offers bras, panties, lingerie, pajamas, sleep, sport and swim apparel, and beauty products. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Reynoldsburg, OH.