Norges Bank Takes $14.83 Million Position in Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 208,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,825,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.34% of Acushnet at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Acushnet by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 441,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,118,000 after buying an additional 10,762 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Acushnet by 11.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,436 shares of the company's stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,909 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Acushnet by 28.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 43,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,789,000 after buying an additional 9,751 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Acushnet by 745.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Acushnet by 5.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 211,600 shares of the company's stock worth $13,490,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares during the period. 53.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acushnet Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of GOLF traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.69. The stock had a trading volume of 409,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business's fifty day moving average is $65.41 and its 200 day moving average is $67.46. Acushnet Holdings Corp. has a 52-week low of $55.31 and a 52-week high of $76.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 0.84.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $445.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.83 million. Acushnet had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 21.45%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Acushnet Holdings Corp. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acushnet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is an increase from Acushnet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Acushnet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Acushnet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Compass Point upgraded Acushnet from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Acushnet from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $64.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Acushnet from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acushnet

In related news, insider Steven Francis Pelisek sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.86, for a total transaction of $1,417,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,006 shares in the company, valued at $6,802,985.16. This trade represents a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Acushnet

Acushnet Holdings Corp. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes golf products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, Korea, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Titleist Golf Balls, Titleist Golf Clubs, Titleist Golf Gear, and FootJoy Golf Wear.