California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 18,896 Shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,896 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Harley-Davidson were worth $5,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the fourth quarter worth $1,341,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter worth about $1,898,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,470,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,295,000 after purchasing an additional 157,939 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Harley-Davidson by 135.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 282,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,900,000 after purchasing an additional 162,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 151.3% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 50,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 30,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America cut their price target on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Harley-Davidson Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Harley-Davidson stock opened at $22.77 on Tuesday. Harley-Davidson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.15 and a 52-week high of $43.63. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.75 and a 200-day moving average of $30.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.28). Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. This is an increase from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Harley-Davidson news, insider Luke Christopher Mansfield sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total transaction of $88,264.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,555 shares in the company, valued at $611,487.80. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

Harley-Davidson, Inc manufactures and sells motorcycles in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Harley-Davidson Motor Company, LiveWire, and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company segment designs, manufactures, and sells motorcycles, including cruiser, trike, touring, standard, sportbike, adventure, and dual sport, as well as motorcycle parts, accessories, and apparel, as well as licenses its trademarks and related services.