Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 6,877 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. decreased its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,182 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,877 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in CF Industries were worth $3,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $1,251,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $610,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $19,824,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 113.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 99,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,018,000 after acquiring an additional 52,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 50,243 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 7,294 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America downgraded CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CF Industries from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,964,120. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total value of $648,234.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,964,120. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $1.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $84.06. 1,569,339 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,076,122. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $90.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 4.70 and a quick ratio of 4.19. The company has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $83.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.36.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 19.45%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.