Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 544,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,512 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.42% of Flowserve worth $22,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flowserve in the third quarter worth $29,745,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 270.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 636,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,314,000 after acquiring an additional 464,667 shares during the period. Pantechnicon Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Flowserve during the third quarter worth approximately $17,976,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowserve by 283.3% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 357,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,202,000 after purchasing an additional 263,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Flowserve by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,065,000 after buying an additional 246,636 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FLS shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Flowserve from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Flowserve from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Flowserve from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Flowserve in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flowserve currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.55.

Flowserve Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FLS opened at $47.52 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.42. Flowserve Co. has a 52 week low of $32.49 and a 52 week high of $49.35.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Flowserve had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 5.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Flowserve Co. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowserve Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from Flowserve’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Flowserve’s payout ratio is 47.46%.

About Flowserve

Flowserve Corporation designs, manufactures, distributes, and services industrial flow management equipment in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through Flowserve Pump Division (FPD) and Flow Control Division (FCD) segments. The FPD segment offers custom and pre-configured pumps and pump systems, mechanical seals, auxiliary systems, replacement parts, upgrades, and related aftermarket services; and equipment services, including installation and commissioning services, seal systems spare parts, repairs, advanced diagnostics, re-rate and upgrade solutions, retrofit programs, and machining and asset management solutions, as well as manufactures a gas-lubricated mechanical seal for use in high-speed compressors for gas pipelines and in the oil and gas production and process markets.