Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Holdings in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) by 31.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,371 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Timken were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Timken by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,953,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,689,000 after purchasing an additional 66,208 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Timken by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,073,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,477,000 after purchasing an additional 5,970 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Timken by 418.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 882,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,959,000 after buying an additional 711,979 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Timken by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 783,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,928,000 after buying an additional 30,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Timken by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 717,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,192,000 after buying an additional 50,519 shares during the period. 89.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Timken in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Timken from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Timken from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America upgraded Timken from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $78.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Timken from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Timken currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Philip D. Fracassa sold 5,000 shares of Timken stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total transaction of $407,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,541 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,091.50. This trade represents a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Timken Stock Down 5.6 %

TKR opened at $59.88 on Friday. The Timken Company has a 1 year low of $58.26 and a 1 year high of $94.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 3.07. The company has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28.

Timken (NYSE:TKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.08. Timken had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Timken Company will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Timken Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Timken’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

Timken Profile

The Timken Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered bearings and industrial motion products, and related services in the United States and internationally. The company's Engineered Bearings segment provides various bearing products, including tapered, spherical, and cylindrical roller bearings; plain bearings, metal-polymer bearings, and rod end bearings; radial, angular, and precision ball bearings; thrust and specialty ball bearings; journal bearings; and housed or mounted bearings.