Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 140,133 Shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 784,412 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 140,133 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.79% of Toll Brothers worth $98,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TOL. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 50.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,673,000 after buying an additional 7,994 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Toll Brothers by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 180 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Toll Brothers by 135.3% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 7.2% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,225 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 97.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,118,459 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $327,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,758 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TOL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Toll Brothers from $155.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine Garvey sold 204 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.78, for a total value of $25,659.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $972,027.84. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $1,404,419.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,618 shares in the company, valued at $2,599,311.26. This represents a 35.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,764 shares of company stock worth $1,476,523. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Toll Brothers Stock Performance

Shares of TOL stock opened at $105.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $118.90 and a 200 day moving average of $136.48. Toll Brothers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.49 and a 52 week high of $169.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 4.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 14.03%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Toll Brothers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Toll Brothers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Toll Brothers’s payout ratio is presently 6.88%.

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.