Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,803 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,214 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.08% of Toll Brothers worth $10,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TOL. FMR LLC raised its position in Toll Brothers by 97.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Toll Brothers during the third quarter valued at approximately $111,562,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Toll Brothers by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,226,271 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $154,449,000 after acquiring an additional 341,980 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,985,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 228.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 232,180 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,243,000 after buying an additional 161,408 shares in the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul E. Shapiro sold 3,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 119,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,088,349.18. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total value of $1,404,419.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,599,311.26. This trade represents a 35.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,202 shares of company stock valued at $1,947,436 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on TOL. UBS Group cut their price objective on Toll Brothers from $192.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Toll Brothers from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Toll Brothers to an "outperform" rating and set a $142.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (down from $166.00) on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Toll Brothers currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.43.

Toll Brothers Trading Down 5.9 %

NYSE TOL traded down $7.17 on Wednesday, reaching $114.88. 5,586,396 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,735,936. The business's fifty day moving average price is $129.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 4.92, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Toll Brothers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.47 and a fifty-two week high of $169.52.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.48%. Analysts forecast that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 14.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Toll Brothers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Toll Brothers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.12%.

About Toll Brothers

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.