Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Trims Holdings in Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lowered its stake in shares of Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 25.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,962 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,447 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings in Toro were worth $3,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Toro by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Toro by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Toro by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 368 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Toro by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Toro by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Toro Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of TTC stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.79. The stock had a trading volume of 256,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 979,824. Toro Company has a 12-month low of $62.34 and a 12-month high of $93.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 0.81. The firm's 50-day moving average is $73.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. Toro had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Toro Company will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Toro's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on TTC shares. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Northland Capmk downgraded Toro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Toro from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $76.00 price objective on Toro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toro

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total transaction of $356,740.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,062 shares in the company, valued at $2,411,930.22. This represents a 12.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.99, for a total value of $425,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 11,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $826,749.54. This trade represents a 34.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Toro

The Toro Company designs, manufactures, markets, and sells professional turf maintenance equipment and services. It operates through two segments: Professional and Residential. The Professional segment offers turf and landscape equipment products, including sports fields and grounds mowing and maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, and other maintenance equipment; rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment, such as horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, stand-on skid steers, vacuum excavators, stump grinders, turf renovation products, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation solutions, materials handling equipment, and other after-market tools; and snow and ice management equipment, such as snowplows, as well as stand-on snow and ice removal equipment, such as snowplow, snow brush, and snow thrower attachments, salt and sand spreaders, and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders.