Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Trims Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 67.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 655 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,338 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,205,491 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,147,603,000 after purchasing an additional 82,978 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,369,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $912,508,000 after acquiring an additional 39,953 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,343,365 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $634,700,000 after purchasing an additional 36,054 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1,889.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,134,969 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $578,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,668 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,617,849 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $356,671,000 after buying an additional 90,945 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LOW. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $306.00 to $301.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total value of $1,555,408.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total transaction of $1,684,262.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,334,678.06. The trade was a 41.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:LOW opened at $273.14 on Thursday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.32 and a 12-month high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $154.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $269.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.66.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.37%.

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.