Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 329,439 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,146,319 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 329,439 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.27% of Lowe's Companies worth $1,763,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Lowe's Companies by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,013,655 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $6,774,948,000 after acquiring an additional 460,851 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,979,337 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $2,952,341,000 after purchasing an additional 245,876 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lowe's Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,842,954,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,186,720 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,033,283,000 after buying an additional 385,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,459,064 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $853,697,000 after buying an additional 90,012 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Lowe's Companies Trading Down 5.4 %

Lowe's Companies stock traded down $12.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $222.53. The company had a trading volume of 4,474,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,425,989. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.70. The company has a market cap of $124.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.80 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.29 billion. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. Research analysts forecast that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe's Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LOW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lowe's Companies from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lowe's Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $280.35.

Lowe's Companies Profile

Lowe's Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. The company offers a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. It also provides home improvement products, such as appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lawn and garden, lumber, kitchens and bath, tools, paint, millwork, hardware, flooring, rough plumbing, building materials, décor, and electrical.