Hennessy Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,900 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Toll Brothers worth $9,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TOL. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Toll Brothers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Toll Brothers in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Toll Brothers by 57.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 180 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Toll Brothers in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Toll Brothers by 323.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 271 shares of the construction company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Toll Brothers

In related news, Director Paul E. Shapiro sold 3,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $514,695.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 119,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,088,349.18. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $1,404,419.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,599,311.26. The trade was a 35.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,202 shares of company stock valued at $1,947,436. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on TOL. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $192.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $156.64.

Toll Brothers Price Performance

Shares of TOL traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $135.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,416,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,319,020. The firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.74. Toll Brothers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.46 and a 12 month high of $169.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $141.28 and a 200 day moving average of $140.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 4.92.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.34 by $0.29. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.11 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 14.25 EPS for the current year.

Toll Brothers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Toll Brothers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.12%.

Toll Brothers Profile

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.