Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 342,331 Shares of Textron Inc. $TXT

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its Textron stake by 1.6%, selling 342,331 shares and retaining 20,542,748 shares (about 11.66% ownership) as institutional investors hold roughly 86% of the stock.
• Textron slightly missed on EPS at $1.73 (vs. $1.74 est.) but revenue beat at $4.18 billion (vs. $4.11B) with revenue up 15.6% year‑over‑year; the stock trades near $89.71 with a market cap of about $15.6 billion.
• Insider selling has been notable: Chairman Scott Donnelly sold 219,619 shares and insiders disposed of 304,473 shares (~$30M) in the past 90 days, though insiders still own about 1.9% of the company.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,542,748 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 342,331 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.66% of Textron worth $1,790,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TXT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Textron by 144.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,664,612 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $213,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573,206 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Textron by 270.7% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,005,843 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $80,759,000 after buying an additional 734,478 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Textron during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,255,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Textron by 8,087.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 429,492 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $37,439,000 after buying an additional 424,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Textron by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 926,237 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $78,258,000 after buying an additional 333,421 shares in the last quarter. 86.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Textron Stock Performance

Textron stock opened at $89.71 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $92.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.97. Textron Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.83 and a fifty-two week high of $101.57.

Textron (NYSE:TXT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. Textron had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Textron Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Textron Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Textron's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Scott C. Donnelly sold 219,619 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.41, for a total transaction of $21,612,705.79. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 742,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $73,061,355.38. This trade represents a 22.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Julie G. Duffy sold 19,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.70, for a total transaction of $1,959,885.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,655,749.30. This represents a 34.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 304,473 shares of company stock worth $29,976,723. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TXT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Textron from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Textron to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Textron from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $92.00 price target on shares of Textron in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Textron from $94.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.18.

About Textron

Textron Inc is a global, multi-industry manufacturing company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company designs, manufactures and services a diverse range of products for the aerospace, defense and industrial markets. Textron operates through four primary business segments—Textron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems and Industrial—each of which serves customers around the world.

Textron Aviation is known for its Cessna and Beechcraft branded business jets and turboprop aircraft, offering models that range from light jets and turboprops to larger cabin aircraft designed for corporate and charter use.

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