Principal Securities Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC)

Principal Securities Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC - Free Report) by 89.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,813 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,139 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Honda Motor were worth $52,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Honda Motor by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,345,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $328,273,000 after acquiring an additional 227,890 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp lifted its stake in shares of Honda Motor by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,097,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,557,000 after purchasing an additional 36,221 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Honda Motor by 52.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,355,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,021,000 after purchasing an additional 466,842 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Honda Motor by 3.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 281,241 shares of the company's stock worth $8,924,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Honda Motor by 6.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 220,628 shares of the company's stock worth $7,001,000 after purchasing an additional 12,720 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HMC. StockNews.com raised shares of Honda Motor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Honda Motor from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Honda Motor Stock Down 1.2 %

Honda Motor stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,289,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,153. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has a 12 month low of $23.41 and a 12 month high of $37.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $28.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.15. The company has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.58.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $36.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.31 billion. Honda Motor had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 7.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Honda Motor

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.