Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases 156,665 Shares of Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR) by 152.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 259,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 156,665 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Ingersoll Rand were worth $23,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ingersoll Rand by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,684,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,132,576,000 after purchasing an additional 446,591 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,673,865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,317,537,000 after buying an additional 1,606,363 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,088,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,817,238,000 after acquiring an additional 197,711 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 18,878,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,707,729,000 after acquiring an additional 649,102 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,472,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,580,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,223 shares during the period. 95.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ingersoll Rand

In related news, insider Elizabeth Meloy Hepding sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $293,230.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,407.08. This trade represents a 24.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IR has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $100.00 to $91.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.91.

Ingersoll Rand Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of IR stock opened at $82.92 on Wednesday. Ingersoll Rand Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.61 and a 12-month high of $106.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $77.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.42.

Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.02). Ingersoll Rand had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 11.59%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ingersoll Rand Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingersoll Rand announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ingersoll Rand Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Ingersoll Rand’s payout ratio is currently 3.96%.

About Ingersoll Rand

Ingersoll Rand Inc provides various mission-critical air, gas, liquid, and solid flow creation technologies services and solutions worldwide. It operates through two segments, Industrial Technologies and Services, and Precision and Science Technologies. The Industrial Technologies and Services segment designs, manufactures, markets, and services air and gas compression, vacuum, and blower products; fluid transfer equipment and loading systems; and power tools and lifting equipment, including associated aftermarket parts, consumables, air treatment equipment, controls, other accessories, and services under the under the Ingersoll Rand, Gardner Denver, Nash, CompAir, Elmo Rietschle brands, etc.