Brokerages Set Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) Price Target at $152.53

Shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $153.33.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TOL shares. StockNews.com cut Toll Brothers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $189.00 target price on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Toll Brothers from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $168.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price (down from $166.00) on shares of Toll Brothers in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Toll Brothers Stock Performance

Shares of TOL opened at $123.84 on Friday. Toll Brothers has a 12-month low of $95.46 and a 12-month high of $169.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $145.10 and its 200-day moving average is $140.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 4.92 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.34 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Toll Brothers will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Toll Brothers’s payout ratio is 6.12%.

Insider Activity at Toll Brothers

In other Toll Brothers news, CEO Douglas C. Jr. Yearley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total transaction of $3,955,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,029,273.86. This represents a 10.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total value of $1,404,419.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,599,311.26. This represents a 35.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,202 shares of company stock valued at $5,903,186. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toll Brothers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 57.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 180 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Toll Brothers by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,089 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Toll Brothers by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,351 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Toll Brothers by 5.1% during the second quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.76% of the company’s stock.

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.