New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 27,200 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 764,289 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 27,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $178,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 2,163 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,286 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 2,763 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down from $269.00) on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total transaction of $257,075.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,795. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of LOW stock opened at $224.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $125.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.90. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $206.39 and a 1-year high of $287.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.13.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.09 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.06 EPS. Analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.11%.

Lowe’s Companies Profile

Lowe’s Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. The company offers a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. It also provides home improvement products, such as appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lawn and garden, lumber, kitchens and bath, tools, paint, millwork, hardware, flooring, rough plumbing, building materials, décor, and electrical.