Swiss National Bank Reduces Stock Position in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 246,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.19% of Harley-Davidson worth $7,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HOG. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,468,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,225 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,802,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Harley-Davidson by 559.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 394,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,207,000 after acquiring an additional 334,830 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 135.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 282,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,900,000 after acquiring an additional 162,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Harley-Davidson by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,470,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,295,000 after purchasing an additional 157,939 shares during the period. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

HOG opened at $24.65 on Friday. Harley-Davidson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.81 and a 1 year high of $44.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.28). Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.62%.

Insider Transactions at Harley-Davidson

In other news, insider Luke Christopher Mansfield sold 3,400 shares of Harley-Davidson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total value of $88,264.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,555 shares in the company, valued at $611,487.80. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HOG. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on Harley-Davidson from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Harley-Davidson from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.57.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

Harley-Davidson, Inc manufactures and sells motorcycles in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Harley-Davidson Motor Company, LiveWire, and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company segment designs, manufactures, and sells motorcycles, including cruiser, trike, touring, standard, sportbike, adventure, and dual sport, as well as motorcycle parts, accessories, and apparel, as well as licenses its trademarks and related services.