Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Toll Brothers Put Options (NYSE:TOL)

Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 5,854 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 36% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,309 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on TOL. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Toll Brothers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Toll Brothers in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Toll Brothers from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $168.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Insider Activity at Toll Brothers

In other news, Director Christine Garvey sold 204 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.78, for a total value of $25,659.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $972,027.84. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul E. Shapiro sold 3,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $514,695.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 119,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,088,349.18. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,202 shares of company stock worth $1,947,436. Insiders own 1.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Toll Brothers

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,323 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toll Brothers during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 275,863 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $42,618,000 after buying an additional 48,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in Toll Brothers during the third quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.76% of the company’s stock.

Toll Brothers Price Performance

NYSE:TOL opened at $115.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 4.92, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $129.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.40. Toll Brothers has a 12-month low of $106.95 and a 12-month high of $169.52.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). Toll Brothers had a net margin of 14.03% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Research analysts expect that Toll Brothers will post 14.15 EPS for the current year.

Toll Brothers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.33%.

About Toll Brothers

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.