Empowered Funds LLC Sells 125,354 Shares of Toll Brothers Inc. $TOL

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Toll Brothers Inc. by 54%, selling 125,354 shares and retaining 106,826 shares valued at approximately $11.28 million.
• Various institutional investors, including Captrust Financial Advisors and Deutsche Bank AG, have increased their positions in Toll Brothers, demonstrating significant interest in the company.
• Wall Street analysts are bullish on Toll Brothers, with multiple firms raising their price targets, reflecting a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and a target price of $149.07.

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its holdings in Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) by 54.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,826 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 125,354 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.11% of Toll Brothers worth $11,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Toll Brothers by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,092 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Toll Brothers by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,284 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Toll Brothers by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 55,847 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,034,000 after buying an additional 29,665 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 66,070 shares of the construction company's stock worth $8,340,000 after buying an additional 10,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,790 shares of the construction company's stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 2,903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on TOL. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Toll Brothers from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Toll Brothers from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Toll Brothers from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Toll Brothers from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Monday, August 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.07.

Insider Activity at Toll Brothers

In other Toll Brothers news, Director Paul E. Shapiro sold 3,812 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.65, for a total transaction of $562,841.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 118,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,533,880.45. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen F. East sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 12,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,474,724.71. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,413 shares of company stock worth $5,746,216 over the last quarter. 1.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Toll Brothers Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:TOL opened at $144.91 on Wednesday. Toll Brothers Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.67 and a 52 week high of $169.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 4.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $127.98 and its 200-day moving average is $112.92. The firm has a market cap of $13.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.33.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.86 billion. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 17.42%. Toll Brothers's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Toll Brothers Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Toll Brothers Dividend Announcement

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

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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