Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 12,528 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 246,022 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 12,528 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $60,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. FMR LLC lifted its position in Lowe's Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,270,496 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $6,483,558,000 after acquiring an additional 259,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,979,337 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $2,952,341,000 after purchasing an additional 245,876 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lowe's Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $1,842,954,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 worth $1,745,960,000 after purchasing an additional 993,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,035,630 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,242,793,000 after purchasing an additional 323,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $253.00 target price (down previously from $269.00) on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lowe's Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $271.52.

Lowe's Companies Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:LOW traded down $2.67 on Friday, hitting $221.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,958,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,514,358. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $206.39 and a one year high of $287.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $224.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.41.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe's Companies had a net margin of 8.19% and a negative return on equity of 47.55%. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.06 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe's Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Lowe's Companies's payout ratio is 37.67%.

Lowe's Companies Company Profile

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.