United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) Holdings Lowered by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,267 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 2,333 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in United Rentals were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in URI. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Rentals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in United Rentals by 241.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 41 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of United Rentals during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

URI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of United Rentals from $850.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Cfra Research raised United Rentals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on United Rentals from $780.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on United Rentals from $770.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of United Rentals from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $485.00 to $780.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Rentals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $765.07.

Insider Activity

In other United Rentals news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.28, for a total value of $688,908.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,478,697.44. This represents a 11.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 708 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.86, for a total transaction of $499,748.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,921 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,957.06. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

United Rentals Price Performance

URI stock traded up $11.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $754.03. The company had a trading volume of 924,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 587,823. The business has a 50 day moving average of $685.30 and a 200 day moving average of $683.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. United Rentals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $525.91 and a fifty-two week high of $896.98.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a return on equity of 33.11% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. United Rentals's payout ratio is currently 18.54%.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.