AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 80,389 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR - Free Report) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,517 shares of the company's stock after selling 80,389 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.43% of Whirlpool worth $27,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,536,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $633,775,000 after acquiring an additional 33,326 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Whirlpool by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,118,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,470,000 after purchasing an additional 98,444 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Whirlpool by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,808,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,065,000 after purchasing an additional 659,014 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Whirlpool by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,373,215 shares of the company's stock worth $157,205,000 after buying an additional 224,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 937,637 shares of the company's stock worth $107,374,000 after buying an additional 34,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered Whirlpool from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Whirlpool Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WHR traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.58. 847,787 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,053,839. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of -13.07 and a beta of 1.20. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $73.72 and a one year high of $135.49. The business's 50 day moving average is $85.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.45.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.03. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 21.89% and a negative net margin of 1.95%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The business's revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Whirlpool's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5,000.00%.

About Whirlpool

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets home appliances and related products and services in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The company's principal products include refrigerators, freezers, ice makers, and refrigerator water filters; laundry appliances, and commercial laundry products and related laundry accessories; cooking and other small domestic appliances; and dishwasher appliances and related accessories, as well as mixers.