Northern Trust Corp Purchases 87,617 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 656,053 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 87,617 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.00% of United Rentals worth $462,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in United Rentals in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of United Rentals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 241.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 41 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management purchased a new position in United Rentals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on URI. UBS Group lowered shares of United Rentals from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $910.00 to $485.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised United Rentals from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $705.00 to $666.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America dropped their target price on United Rentals from $850.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Baird R W upgraded United Rentals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded United Rentals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $702.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Rentals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $725.69.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE URI traded up $4.76 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $670.16. 184,062 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 591,505. United Rentals, Inc. has a one year low of $525.91 and a one year high of $896.98. The company's 50 day moving average is $613.33 and its 200 day moving average is $719.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.70.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 34.21%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. United Rentals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.28, for a total transaction of $688,908.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,748 shares in the company, valued at $5,478,697.44. This represents a 11.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.