Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also commented on TOL. Barclays cut their price objective on Toll Brothers from $115.00 to $101.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Toll Brothers from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Toll Brothers from $170.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Toll Brothers presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.57.

Toll Brothers Stock Performance

NYSE TOL opened at $107.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.77. Toll Brothers has a twelve month low of $102.49 and a twelve month high of $169.52. The company has a current ratio of 4.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $121.56 and a 200 day moving average of $137.79.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 14.03%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Toll Brothers will post 13.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine Garvey sold 420 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.58, for a total value of $46,443.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,107.88. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total value of $1,404,419.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,599,311.26. This trade represents a 35.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,785 shares of company stock worth $1,479,185. Company insiders own 1.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Toll Brothers in the fourth quarter valued at $1,117,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Toll Brothers by 5.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 180,023 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,659,000 after purchasing an additional 9,195 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Toll Brothers in the third quarter valued at $12,506,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Toll Brothers by 4,894.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,396 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 3,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Toll Brothers by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,005 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,554,000 after buying an additional 4,209 shares during the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.