National Pension Service Acquires 324,136 Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)

Key Points

• National Pension Service has increased its position in Ford Motor Company by 4.5%, now owning approximately 7.54 million shares worth $75.67 million.
• Wall Street analysts have generally upgraded their ratings for Ford, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price set at $10.53.
• Ford Motor recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, which will yield approximately 5.2% annually, with the ex-dividend date set for August 11th.

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,544,280 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 324,136 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.19% of Ford Motor worth $75,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in F. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 13.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 457,660,361 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $4,590,333,000 after purchasing an additional 55,576,478 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 6,915.1% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 49,078,048 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $492,253,000 after purchasing an additional 48,378,444 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Ford Motor during the first quarter worth about $123,147,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ford Motor by 8.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 140,053,906 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $1,404,741,000 after acquiring an additional 10,947,527 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ford Motor by 88.0% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 22,512,285 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $222,872,000 after acquiring an additional 10,535,335 shares during the period. 58.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on F shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Ford Motor from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ford Motor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research raised Ford Motor from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Dbs Bank cut Ford Motor from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ford Motor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.53.

Ford Motor Price Performance

Shares of F remained flat at $11.44 on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 46,097,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,638,872. The firm has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.10. Ford Motor Company has a 1-year low of $8.44 and a 1-year high of $11.97. The stock's 50 day moving average is $11.12 and its 200-day moving average is $10.30.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $50.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.91 billion. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 1.70%. Ford Motor's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ford Motor Company will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Ford Motor's payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew Frick sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,253,329. This represents a 20.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Ford Motor Profile

Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments.