Blair William & Co. IL Sells 1,271 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL has reduced its stake in United Rentals by 15%, now holding 7,191 shares valued at approximately $4.5 million.
• Several other institutional investors have also increased their positions in United Rentals, with Heritage Trust Co growing their stake by 136.4% in the first quarter.
• United Rentals reported $10.47 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates, with revenue rising 4.5% year-over-year to $3.94 billion.

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,191 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,271 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in United Rentals were worth $4,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in United Rentals during the first quarter worth about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 1,266.7% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 41 shares of the construction company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 69.0% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 49 shares of the construction company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in United Rentals in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in United Rentals during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 96.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on United Rentals from $780.00 to $835.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on United Rentals from $865.00 to $960.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $810.00 target price (up previously from $740.00) on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of United Rentals from $920.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $770.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Rentals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.71.

United Rentals Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE URI traded up $4.38 on Friday, reaching $858.99. The company had a trading volume of 273,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 657,143. The firm has a market cap of $55.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.72. United Rentals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $525.91 and a fifty-two week high of $903.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $777.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $703.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $10.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.54 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 32.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. United Rentals's payout ratio is 18.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.86, for a total transaction of $499,748.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,921 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,957.06. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

United Rentals Profile

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.