CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 310,936 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 10,048 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.18% of CF Industries worth $26,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,286,745 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $711,003,000 after buying an additional 300,050 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,567,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $477,668,000 after purchasing an additional 22,392 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,188,648 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $359,386,000 after purchasing an additional 549,569 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,300,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $111,582,000 after purchasing an additional 120,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,093,885 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,855,000 after purchasing an additional 25,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF Industries stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.92. 790,352 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,343,441. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.98. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $98.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CF. UBS Group upped their price objective on CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector underperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,077,640. The trade was a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total value of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,389 shares of company stock valued at $2,355,425 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Company 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.