The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Shares Sold by Simplicity Solutions LLC

Simplicity Solutions LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Toro were worth $655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Toro during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Toro during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Toro by 135.9% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Toro during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Toro during the first quarter worth about $39,000. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of TTC opened at $84.28 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The Toro Company has a 52-week low of $78.35 and a 52-week high of $108.50.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.02). Toro had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 26.66%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Toro Company will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total transaction of $55,085.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,958.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Toro news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total transaction of $460,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,933,276.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total transaction of $55,085.55. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,958.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TTC shares. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Toro from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Toro from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.60.

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.