Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS - Free Report) by 75.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,690 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 27,133 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Flowserve were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FLS. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 229,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,857,000 after acquiring an additional 34,645 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at $613,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 711 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flowserve in the 4th quarter valued at $255,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Flowserve by 107.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,946 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,771,000 after acquiring an additional 42,908 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FLS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Flowserve from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Flowserve from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W raised shares of Flowserve from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Flowserve from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $60.00 price target on shares of Flowserve in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $63.00.

Flowserve Stock Up 2.5%

FLS stock traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.84. 1,702,922 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,298,715. The company has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Flowserve Co. has a twelve month low of $37.34 and a twelve month high of $65.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.45.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Flowserve had a net margin of 6.20% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Flowserve Co. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Flowserve's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.25%.

About Flowserve

Flowserve Corporation designs, manufactures, distributes, and services industrial flow management equipment in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through Flowserve Pump Division (FPD) and Flow Control Division (FCD) segments. The FPD segment offers custom and pre-configured pumps and pump systems, mechanical seals, auxiliary systems, replacement parts, upgrades, and related aftermarket services; and equipment services, including installation and commissioning services, seal systems spare parts, repairs, advanced diagnostics, re-rate and upgrade solutions, retrofit programs, and machining and asset management solutions, as well as manufactures a gas-lubricated mechanical seal for use in high-speed compressors for gas pipelines and in the oil and gas production and process markets.