Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 45,005 Shares of Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF)

Wells Fargo & Company MN trimmed its holdings in Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 945,490 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,005 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Acushnet were worth $67,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOLF. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Acushnet by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP bought a new position in shares of Acushnet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in shares of Acushnet in the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Acushnet during the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Acushnet during the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.12% of the company’s stock.

Acushnet Price Performance

Shares of GOLF opened at $56.19 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.54. Acushnet Holdings Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $55.84 and a fifty-two week high of $76.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $445.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.83 million. Acushnet had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 7.78%. Analysts anticipate that Acushnet Holdings Corp. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Acushnet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Acushnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Acushnet’s dividend payout ratio is 28.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Francis Pelisek sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.86, for a total value of $1,417,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,802,985.16. This trade represents a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOLF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Acushnet from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Acushnet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Acushnet from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded shares of Acushnet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $77.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.80.

Acushnet Company Profile

Acushnet Holdings Corp. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes golf products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, Korea, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Titleist Golf Balls, Titleist Golf Clubs, Titleist Golf Gear, and FootJoy Golf Wear.