Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Sells 47,720 Shares of V.F. Co. (NYSE:VFC)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd reduced its position in shares of V.F. Co. (NYSE:VFC) by 64.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 47,720 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in V.F. were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VFC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of V.F. by 48.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,098,812 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $54,756,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,583 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of V.F. by 559.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,113,192 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $19,670,000 after acquiring an additional 944,449 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of V.F. by 44.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,768,318 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $48,916,000 after acquiring an additional 856,751 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of V.F. by 220.0% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,045,497 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $18,474,000 after acquiring an additional 718,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of V.F. by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,239,841 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $728,708,000 after acquiring an additional 475,239 shares during the last quarter. 86.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Juliana L. Chugg purchased 11,301 shares of V.F. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.55 per share, with a total value of $198,332.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $461,582.55. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bracken Darrell acquired 65,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.38 per share, for a total transaction of $1,005,236.80. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 144,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,219,041.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Juliana L. Chugg acquired 11,301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.55 per share, for a total transaction of $198,332.55. Following the purchase, the director now owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at $461,582.55. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VFC. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of V.F. from $16.50 to $15.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of V.F. in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of V.F. from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of V.F. from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of V.F. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.97.

V.F. Stock Performance

Shares of VFC opened at $12.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.40, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.47. V.F. Co. has a twelve month low of $11.91 and a twelve month high of $23.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.20.

V.F. (NYSE:VFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.22). V.F. had a negative net margin of 7.07% and a positive return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that V.F. Co. will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

V.F. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. V.F.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -18.27%.

V.F. Company Profile

V.F. Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, procurement, marketing, and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear, and related products for men, women, and children in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Outdoor, Active, and Work.