Argent Trust Co Reduces Stock Position in Ford Motor (NYSE:F)

Argent Trust Co reduced its position in shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F – Get Rating) by 41.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,821 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 10,465 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Ford Motor were worth $172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Snider Financial Group raised its stake in Ford Motor by 100,345.2% in the first quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 219,805,167 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $3,717,000 after buying an additional 219,586,336 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ford Motor by 43,624.1% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 44,970,209 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $503,666,000 after buying an additional 44,867,359 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ford Motor by 861.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,534,381 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $87,625,000 after buying an additional 6,750,728 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ford Motor by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 332,380,925 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $3,722,666,000 after buying an additional 4,518,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Ford Motor by 61.2% in the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 8,968,152 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $151,652,000 after buying an additional 3,404,530 shares in the last quarter. 49.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ford Motor Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of F stock opened at $11.38 on Friday. Ford Motor has a 12-month low of $10.61 and a 12-month high of $16.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.94 and its 200 day moving average is $12.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The auto manufacturer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.27. Ford Motor had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 19.99%. The company had revenue of $39.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 26th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 25th. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.51%.

Insider Transactions at Ford Motor

In other news, insider Ashwani Kumar Galhotra sold 24,850 shares of Ford Motor stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total transaction of $323,298.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 511,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,981.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO John T. Lawler sold 29,821 shares of Ford Motor stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $389,760.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 443,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,798,936.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ashwani Kumar Galhotra sold 24,850 shares of Ford Motor stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total transaction of $323,298.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 511,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,981.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,592 shares of company stock worth $1,740,843 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $12.50 to $12.80 in a research note on Monday, May 15th. TheStreet raised shares of Ford Motor from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Ford Motor from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Ford Motor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $13.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.35.

Ford Motor Company Profile

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Ford Motor Co engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of automobiles. It operates through the following segments: Ford Blue, Ford Model E, and Ford Pro, Ford Next, and Ford Credit. The Ford Blue, Ford Model E, and Ford Pro segment includes the sale of Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories, together with the associated costs to develop, manufacture, distribute, and service the vehicles, parts, and accessories.