Paloma Partners Management Co Sells 23,148 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Paloma Partners Management Co lowered its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 75.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 23,148 shares during the quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co's holdings in CF Industries were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in CF Industries by 17.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 586,919 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $50,358,000 after acquiring an additional 88,432 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management grew its position in CF Industries by 2.8% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 28,022 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,328,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 17.1% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 7,514 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $88.42.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF traded down $2.64 on Wednesday, reaching $91.50. 1,896,553 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,063,357. The firm has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $94.46. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $86.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.10.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $648,234.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. This represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 2.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,701 shares of company stock worth $2,052,704. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CF Industries Profile

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.