William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 39,497 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,354,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 39,497 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $200,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,286,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $711,003,000 after purchasing an additional 300,050 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,792,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $494,202,000 after purchasing an additional 225,109 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $382,901,000 after purchasing an additional 299,173 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in CF Industries by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,300,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,582,000 after purchasing an additional 120,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in CF Industries by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,187,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,313,000 after purchasing an additional 93,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE CF opened at $76.55 on Monday. 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 $12.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.35.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 29.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CF shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.86.

CF Industries Profile

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.