Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,972 shares of the company’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Whirlpool by 46.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 981,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,304,000 after acquiring an additional 312,729 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 240.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 375,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,125,000 after purchasing an additional 265,418 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,019,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,094,000 after purchasing an additional 258,871 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 84.4% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 532,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,418,000 after purchasing an additional 243,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Whirlpool by 335.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 188,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,170,000 after buying an additional 145,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.80.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR stock opened at $131.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $116.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Whirlpool Co. has a 52 week low of $84.18 and a 52 week high of $132.09.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 3.19%. Whirlpool’s revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of Whirlpool stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $626,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,343,233.60. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Profile

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets home appliances and related products and services in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The company's principal products include refrigerators, freezers, ice makers, and refrigerator water filters; laundry appliances, and commercial laundry products and related laundry accessories; cooking and other small domestic appliances; and dishwasher appliances and related accessories, as well as mixers.