Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. Invests $303,000 in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,301 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lowe's Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,842,954,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 350.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,373,460 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $585,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846,315 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 26,796.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,657,332 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $386,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,170 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,745,960,000 after acquiring an additional 993,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 1,048.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 739,727 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $172,527,000 after acquiring an additional 675,318 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lowe's Companies

In other Lowe's Companies news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of Lowe's Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Truist Financial set a $264.00 price target on shares of Lowe's Companies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp raised shares of Lowe's Companies from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $266.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $296.00 to $269.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe's Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Price Performance

NYSE LOW traded down $3.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $224.53. 972,407 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,495,189. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.39 and a 52-week high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $125.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.42.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.09 billion. Lowe's Companies had a net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. This is a boost from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Lowe's Companies's payout ratio is 39.77%.

About Lowe's Companies

Lowe's Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. The company offers a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. It also provides home improvement products, such as appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lawn and garden, lumber, kitchens and bath, tools, paint, millwork, hardware, flooring, rough plumbing, building materials, décor, and electrical.