Alta Capital Management LLC Sells 33,609 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Alta Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 34.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 62,825 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 33,609 shares during the period. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $15,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,010,730 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,045,006,000 after buying an additional 2,399,897 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,013,655 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $6,774,948,000 after buying an additional 460,851 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,733,461 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,169,041,000 after buying an additional 187,473 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,186,720 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,033,283,000 after buying an additional 385,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,459,064 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $853,697,000 after buying an additional 90,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LOW shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $292.00 to $285.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.83.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LOW stock opened at $245.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $252.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.24. The company has a market capitalization of $138.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.80 and a 12-month high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.29 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.19% and a negative return on equity of 47.55%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

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.