Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 7,605 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,855 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 7,605 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $20,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lowe's Companies in the fourth quarter worth $1,842,954,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 worth $386,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,170 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lowe's Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $314,435,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,745,960,000 after purchasing an additional 993,833 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,898 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,795. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Lowe's Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of LOW stock traded up $2.43 on Friday, reaching $223.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,227,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,531,291. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $223.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.58. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.39 and a 1 year high of $287.01. The company has a market capitalization of $125.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.11%.

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.