Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stake in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR - Free Report) by 76.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,914 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 31,459 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Timken were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Timken during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Timken by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 848 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Timken during the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Timken by 25,983.3% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,565 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Timken by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,877 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.08% of the company's stock.

Timken Trading Up 0.7 %

TKR traded up $0.42 on Friday, hitting $61.39. The company had a trading volume of 652,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,152. The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The company's fifty day moving average price is $72.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.99. The Timken Company has a 1 year low of $56.20 and a 1 year high of $94.71.

Timken (NYSE:TKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.08. Timken had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 13.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Timken Company will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Timken Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Timken's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Timken

In related news, CFO Philip D. Fracassa sold 5,000 shares of Timken stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total value of $407,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,379,091.50. The trade was a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on TKR. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Timken in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Timken from $94.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Timken from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Timken from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Timken from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $78.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.91.

About Timken

The Timken Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered bearings and industrial motion products, and related services in the United States and internationally. The company's Engineered Bearings segment provides various bearing products, including tapered, spherical, and cylindrical roller bearings; plain bearings, metal-polymer bearings, and rod end bearings; radial, angular, and precision ball bearings; thrust and specialty ball bearings; journal bearings; and housed or mounted bearings.