Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW Shares Sold by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. reduced its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,848 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,316 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LOW. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $681,215,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2,984.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $475,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,971,996 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,881,196 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $438,751,000 after acquiring an additional 618,775 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,207,081 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,214,448,000 after acquiring an additional 501,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,111,747 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,192,213,000 after acquiring an additional 330,701 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LOW. Barclays set a $267.00 price objective on Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.20, for a total transaction of $238,938.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,462.80. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $10,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 249,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,772,256.30. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 92,931 shares of company stock valued at $24,945,752 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Down 1.0%

LOW opened at $235.64 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.65. The company has a market cap of $132.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.88. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.38 and a 52 week high of $280.64.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.99 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 52.02% and a net margin of 8.20%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.10 EPS. Lowe’s Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.200-12.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.44%.

Lowe’s Companies Company 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.