California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 5,019 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 107,159 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,019 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.16% of United Rentals worth $75,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in United Rentals by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,221,228 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,722,000 after acquiring an additional 323,636 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in United Rentals by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,587,203 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,115,142,000 after buying an additional 20,401 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in United Rentals by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,250,324 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $880,778,000 after purchasing an additional 172,340 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in United Rentals by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,093,350 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $770,199,000 after acquiring an additional 97,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of United Rentals by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,051,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $740,624,000 after buying an additional 305,491 shares during the last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO William E. Grace sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $638.10, for a total value of $701,910.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,390,128. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on URI shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of United Rentals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $702.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of United Rentals from $535.00 to $571.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of United Rentals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $705.00 to $666.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of United Rentals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $725.69.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of URI stock opened at $628.32 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $614.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $724.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.72. United Rentals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $525.91 and a 12-month high of $896.98.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a return on equity of 34.21% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.54%.

United Rentals Company Profile

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.