Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) by 47.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,473 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 77,556 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Textron were worth $6,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Textron during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Textron during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Textron during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Textron during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Textron by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TXT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Textron from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen raised shares of Textron to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Textron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $110.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Textron from $118.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of Textron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Textron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.45.

Textron Stock Up 9.7 %

NYSE TXT opened at $66.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.76. Textron Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.70 and a 12 month high of $96.14. The company has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.06.

Textron (NYSE:TXT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The aerospace company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. Textron had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 14.92%. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Textron Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Textron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Textron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1.86%.

Insider Transactions at Textron

In other news, VP Mark S. Bamford sold 5,451 shares of Textron stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.68, for a total value of $396,178.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,324,447.64. This trade represents a 23.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Textron

Textron Inc operates in the aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Textron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems, Industrial, Textron eAviation, and Finance. The Textron Aviation segment manufactures, sells, and services business jets, turboprop and piston engine aircraft, and military trainer and defense aircraft; and offers maintenance, inspection, and repair services, as well as sells commercial parts.