American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 27,850 Shares of Toll Brothers Inc. $TOL

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Toll Brothers Inc. by 12.3%, acquiring an additional 27,850 shares to own approximately 0.25% of the company, valued at nearly $26.9 million.
• A variety of analysts have updated their ratings on Toll Brothers, with UBS Group reiterating a "buy" rating while other firms adjusted target prices, indicating a mixed outlook for the stock.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 7.35%.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,638 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,850 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.25% of Toll Brothers worth $26,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Toll Brothers by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,051 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in Toll Brothers by 0.4% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 24,800 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in Toll Brothers by 6.7% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 1,706 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Toll Brothers by 5.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Toll Brothers by 84.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 245 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Toll Brothers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Toll Brothers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Toll Brothers from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Toll Brothers from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.54.

Toll Brothers Trading Up 5.8%

Shares of TOL opened at $139.2170 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Toll Brothers Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.67 and a 12-month high of $169.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.33. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $120.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.47.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The construction company reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.59 by $0.14. Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Toll Brothers Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. Toll Brothers's dividend payout ratio is 7.35%.

Insider Transactions at Toll Brothers

In other news, Director Stephen F. East sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.33, for a total transaction of $288,325.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,474,724.71. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert Parahus sold 9,831 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.84, for a total value of $1,286,288.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 19,692 shares in the company, valued at $2,576,501.28. This trade represents a 33.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,601 shares of company stock worth $1,726,874. 1.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Toll Brothers Profile

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.

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