Challenger Wealth Management Takes $455,000 Position in Parker-Hannifin Co. (NYSE:PH)

Challenger Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Parker-Hannifin Co. (NYSE:PH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 716 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,854,774 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,903,962,000 after buying an additional 111,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,677,092 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,699,580,000 after purchasing an additional 99,261 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,502,728 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,591,810,000 after purchasing an additional 198,292 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 99.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,277,001 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,448,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,016,091 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,282,294,000 after purchasing an additional 172,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jay Reidy sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $620.37, for a total transaction of $93,055.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,230.71. This represents a 6.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PH. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $564.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $842.00 to $805.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $690.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Argus set a $680.00 price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Parker-Hannifin presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.44.

Parker-Hannifin Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE PH traded down $4.67 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $666.24. The company had a trading volume of 469,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 716,865. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Parker-Hannifin Co. has a one year low of $488.45 and a one year high of $718.44. The company has a market cap of $85.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.36. The company's fifty day moving average is $610.46 and its 200-day moving average is $647.28.

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $6.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.72 by $0.22. Parker-Hannifin had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 27.34%. The business had revenue of $4.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.51 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Parker-Hannifin Co. will post 26.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Parker-Hannifin Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is a positive change from Parker-Hannifin's previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Parker-Hannifin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.72%.

Parker-Hannifin Company Profile

Parker-Hannifin Corporation manufactures and sells motion and control technologies and systems for various mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems. The Diversified Industrial segment offers sealing, shielding, thermal products and systems, adhesives, coatings, and noise vibration and harshness solutions; filters, systems, and diagnostics solutions to ensure purity and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors used in fluid and gas handling; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment.