Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 4,800 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $7,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 422.0% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $142,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,928,670. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CF. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.15.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF stock opened at $77.28 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.43 and a 200 day moving average of $85.48. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $98.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. As a group, research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.