New England Research & Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,710 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,734,000. Toll Brothers makes up about 1.4% of New England Research & Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,118,459 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $327,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,758 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Toll Brothers during the third quarter worth approximately $111,562,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Toll Brothers in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,985,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 35.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 884,291 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $136,614,000 after buying an additional 229,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers in the third quarter valued at approximately $23,629,000. 91.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul E. Shapiro sold 3,837 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total value of $514,695.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 119,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,088,349.18. This trade represents a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine Garvey sold 204 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.78, for a total value of $25,659.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $972,027.84. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,202 shares of company stock worth $1,947,436. Company insiders own 1.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TOL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $165.00 to $156.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Toll Brothers from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on Toll Brothers from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Toll Brothers from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $168.00 to $164.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.00.

Toll Brothers Stock Performance

TOL traded up $5.01 on Thursday, reaching $140.80. The company had a trading volume of 808,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,441,557. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $138.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 4.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Toll Brothers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.45 and a 1 year high of $169.52.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The construction company reported $4.63 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.11 earnings per share. Toll Brothers's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 14.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Toll Brothers's payout ratio is 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.