Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. Sells 74 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 3.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,969 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. ING Groep NV increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 18,786.5% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 106,709 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $23,748,000 after acquiring an additional 106,144 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 215,442 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $47,947,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 824.6% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 15,339 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 13,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 45,072 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $10,031,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LOW shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Gordon Haskett reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $251.33.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE LOW traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $220.46. 12,630,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,428,194. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.85 and a 1 year high of $262.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.12. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.46% and a negative return on equity of 48.52%. The business had revenue of $21.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.34%.

Lowe’s Companies 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.