Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.85 Million Stock Position in Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,987 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Acushnet were worth $1,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Acushnet by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Acushnet during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new position in Acushnet during the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Acushnet in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Acushnet during the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. Institutional investors own 53.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acushnet

In other Acushnet news, insider Steven Francis Pelisek sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.86, for a total transaction of $1,417,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,802,985.16. This trade represents a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOLF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Acushnet from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $69.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point upgraded Acushnet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Acushnet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Acushnet from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acushnet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.80.

Acushnet Trading Up 1.4 %

GOLF stock opened at $61.69 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Acushnet Holdings Corp. has a twelve month low of $55.31 and a twelve month high of $76.65. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.41 and a 200-day moving average of $67.48.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $445.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $454.83 million. Acushnet had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 7.78%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Acushnet Holdings Corp. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Acushnet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Acushnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Acushnet’s payout ratio is currently 28.23%.

Acushnet Company Profile

Acushnet Holdings Corp. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes golf products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, Korea, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Titleist Golf Balls, Titleist Golf Clubs, Titleist Golf Gear, and FootJoy Golf Wear.