Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys Shares of 1,100 Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,100 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 87.1% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 494 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Toll Brothers in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 23.1% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 26.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 754 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 6,183.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the period. 91.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $580,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 49,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,770,122.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $580,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 49,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,770,122.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen F. East sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $178,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,120,295.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,500 shares of company stock valued at $7,881,930. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Toll Brothers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Toll Brothers from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Toll Brothers presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.80.

Toll Brothers Price Performance

Toll Brothers stock opened at $120.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $118.95 and its 200 day moving average is $100.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 4.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Toll Brothers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.70 and a 52-week high of $130.63.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The construction company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 21.04%. Toll Brothers’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 13.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toll Brothers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Toll Brothers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.11%.

About Toll Brothers

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.