Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,233 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 15,019 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Textron were worth $8,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TXT. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Textron by 110.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 28,171 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 14,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Textron by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 190,615 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $16,726,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Textron by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 398,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,287,000 after purchasing an additional 50,936 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Textron by 8.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 7,694 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Textron by 4.2% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,414 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,075,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.03% of the company’s stock.

Textron Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE TXT opened at $72.92 on Friday. Textron Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.14 and a 52-week high of $97.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.21. The firm has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.27.

Textron (NYSE:TXT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The aerospace company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. Textron had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 6.01%. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Textron’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Textron Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Textron Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.11%. Textron’s payout ratio is currently 1.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark S. Bamford sold 5,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.68, for a total value of $396,178.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,324,447.64. This trade represents a 23.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TXT shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Textron from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Textron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Textron from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Textron from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Textron from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Textron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.45.

Textron Company Profile

Textron Inc operates in the aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Textron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems, Industrial, Textron eAviation, and Finance. The Textron Aviation segment manufactures, sells, and services business jets, turboprop and piston engine aircraft, and military trainer and defense aircraft; and offers maintenance, inspection, and repair services, as well as sells commercial parts.