Empirical Finance LLC Has $1.29 Million Stake in Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL)

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its stake in shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,170 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,327 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Toll Brothers were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,268,164 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,158,255,000 after buying an additional 216,849 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its stake in Toll Brothers by 1.0% in the second quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,565,787 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $641,067,000 after purchasing an additional 52,893 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Toll Brothers by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,620,912 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $372,198,000 after purchasing an additional 14,449 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the 4th quarter worth about $128,982,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,090,802 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $112,124,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares in the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toll Brothers Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE TOL opened at $144.16 on Friday. Toll Brothers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.08 and a 1 year high of $149.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.76.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The construction company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.29. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.73 earnings per share. Toll Brothers’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Toll Brothers, Inc. will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TOL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Toll Brothers from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Toll Brothers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Toll Brothers from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Toll Brothers from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.67.

Insider Activity at Toll Brothers

In other news, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 3,806 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.84, for a total transaction of $463,723.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,012,006.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 16,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total value of $1,922,875.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,387,295.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 3,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.84, for a total transaction of $463,723.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,012,006.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 130,257 shares of company stock valued at $18,552,950. 1.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Toll Brothers Profile

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.