Appleton Partners Inc. MA Has $246,000 Stock Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 69.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 980 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,234 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 3.4% during the third quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 26,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $6,663,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,380 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 83,418 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $20,964,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 30,714 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $7,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 276.0% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 14,413 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after purchasing an additional 10,580 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LOW shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $284.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.77.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $278.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.97. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.38 and a 52 week high of $281.36.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 55.86% and a net margin of 8.05%.The firm had revenue of $20.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 21st were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 21st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lowe’s Companies news, CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.17, for a total value of $4,701,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 231,043 shares in the company, valued at $60,341,500.31. The trade was a 7.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Company Profile

Lowe’s Companies, Inc is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and digital channels serving both do-it-yourself homeowners and professional contractors. The company offers a broad assortment of products including building materials, lumber, appliances, tools and hardware, plumbing and electrical supplies, paint, flooring, kitchen and bath fixtures, outdoor and garden products, and home decor. Lowe’s also provides a range of services such as installation, home improvement financing, tool and equipment rental, and contractor-focused sales programs.

Operations are centered on a nationwide brick-and-mortar store network supported by distribution centers and an e-commerce platform that enables online ordering, delivery and in-store pickup.