Marshall Wace LLP Reduces Stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its stake in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 78.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 55,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 204,690 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $1,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMT. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Kennametal during the fourth quarter worth about $1,114,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kennametal by 801.8% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kennametal during the fourth quarter worth about $373,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Kennametal by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 426,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,235,000 after purchasing an additional 16,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Kennametal by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KMT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.20.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of KMT opened at $19.34 on Tuesday. Kennametal Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.30 and a 1-year high of $32.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. As a group, analysts forecast that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,691.25. The trade was a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Kennametal Company Profile

Kennametal Inc engages in development and application of tungsten carbides, ceramics, and super-hard materials and solutions for use in metal cutting and extreme wear applications to enable customers work against corrosion and high temperatures conditions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Metal Cutting and Infrastructure.