ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Purchases 859 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,958 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 352.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,438 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,180,000 after acquiring an additional 11,248 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 209,846 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $45,961,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 35.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,057 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,099,000 after acquiring an additional 3,688 shares during the last quarter. TradeLink Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the second quarter worth about $397,000. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.5% in the second quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 12,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,844,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LOW. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $291.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.85.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LOW opened at $247.78 on Friday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $209.55 and a 12 month high of $287.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.11.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 22nd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 38.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lowe’s Companies news, EVP Quonta D. Vance sold 7,198 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.37, for a total transaction of $1,974,915.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,582,802.11. This represents a 30.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Company 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.