William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 39,497 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,354,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 39,497 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.35% of CF Industries worth $200,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 459.4% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 435,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,583,000 after acquiring an additional 357,531 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 737,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,263,000 after acquiring an additional 300,873 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,286,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $711,003,000 after acquiring an additional 300,050 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,901,000 after buying an additional 299,173 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in CF Industries by 2,848.4% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 290,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,776,000 after buying an additional 280,535 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CF has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.86.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CF opened at $76.55 on Monday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $98.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. As a group, analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 29.54%.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.