New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,686 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,815 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.13% of Toro worth $13,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TTC. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Toro by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,180,246 shares of the company's stock worth $347,378,000 after purchasing an additional 835,637 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Toro by 2.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,675,185 shares of the company's stock worth $222,308,000 after buying an additional 61,806 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,209,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,528,000 after acquiring an additional 204,542 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 249.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,061,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,246,000 after acquiring an additional 757,641 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Toro by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 926,094 shares of the company's stock worth $76,958,000 after purchasing an additional 37,589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Toro Stock Performance

TTC traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.79. 1,248,865 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 723,214. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $89.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The Toro Company has a 1 year low of $78.35 and a 1 year high of $108.50.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1 billion. Toro had a return on equity of 26.66% and a net margin of 6.53%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Toro Company will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Toro's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on TTC shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Toro from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Toro from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Toro presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $105.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toro

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total transaction of $460,790.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,933,276.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total value of $55,085.55. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,049 shares in the company, valued at $93,958.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total value of $460,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,933,276.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Toro Company Profile

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.