Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Parker-Hannifin Corporation (NYSE:PH) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $972.80 and last traded at $963.9350, with a volume of 697468 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $952.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Parker-Hannifin in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Parker-Hannifin from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Parker-Hannifin in a report on Thursday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,020.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Parker-Hannifin from $941.00 to $965.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Parker-Hannifin from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $990.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Rachid Bendali sold 1,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.99, for a total value of $1,225,746.63. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,714 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,014.86. This represents a 34.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Andrew D. Ross sold 2,488 shares of Parker-Hannifin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.81, for a total value of $2,226,287.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,907.20. This represents a 15.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,432 shares of company stock worth $6,484,116 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Parker-Hannifin

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PH. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 158,565.9% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 5,069,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,843,346,000 after purchasing an additional 5,066,179 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Parker-Hannifin during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,352,509,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Parker-Hannifin by 115.7% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 367,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,970,000 after buying an additional 197,317 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 7.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,584,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,959,166,000 after acquiring an additional 169,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,639,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,145,199,000 after acquiring an additional 136,359 shares during the period. 82.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Parker-Hannifin Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $121.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $901.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $810.94.

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $7.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.11 by $0.54. Parker-Hannifin had a return on equity of 27.56% and a net margin of 17.29%.The company had revenue of $5.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Parker-Hannifin Corporation will post 26.71 EPS for the current year.

Parker-Hannifin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Parker-Hannifin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.26%.

About Parker-Hannifin

Parker-Hannifin Corporation (NYSE: PH) is a global manufacturer and provider of motion and control technologies and systems. The company designs, manufactures and services a broad range of engineered components and systems used to control the movement and flow of liquids, gases and hydraulic power. Its product portfolio is applied across demanding environments and includes solutions for industrial manufacturing, aerospace, mobile equipment and other engineered applications.

Parker-Hannifin’s product and service offerings span hydraulic and pneumatic components, fittings and fluid connectors, valves, pumps and motors, electromechanical actuators and motion-control systems, filtration and separation products, and seals and sealing systems.