The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Stake Cut by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its holdings in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,935 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,138 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Toro were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Toro by 112.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Toro by 850.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Toro by 22.4% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Toro by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Toro in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TTC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Toro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Toro has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.33.

Toro Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of TTC stock traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $85.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,149,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,455. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $84.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.08. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.94. The Toro Company has a twelve month low of $77.15 and a twelve month high of $102.00.

Toro Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Toro's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. Toro's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.90%.

Toro announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Toro Profile

The Toro Company designs, manufactures, markets, and sells professional turf maintenance equipment and services. It operates through two segments: Professional and Residential. The Professional segment offers turf and landscape equipment products, including sports fields and grounds mowing and maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, and other maintenance equipment; rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment, such as horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, stand-on skid steers, vacuum excavators, stump grinders, turf renovation products, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation solutions, materials handling equipment, and other after-market tools; and snow and ice management equipment, such as snowplows, as well as stand-on snow and ice removal equipment, such as snowplow, snow brush, and snow thrower attachments, salt and sand spreaders, and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders.