Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 19,504 Shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 99,514 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,504 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Harley-Davidson were worth $2,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HOG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Harley-Davidson by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,470,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,295,000 after purchasing an additional 157,939 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $726,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter valued at $1,898,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 35,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Harley-Davidson by 84.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Harley-Davidson news, insider Luke Christopher Mansfield sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total transaction of $88,264.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Harley-Davidson Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HOG opened at $26.36 on Friday. Harley-Davidson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.25 and a 52-week high of $44.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.58. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.28). Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 9.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is 21.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Harley-Davidson from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.57.

Harley-Davidson 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.