United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,073 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $2,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in URI. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 3.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,568 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,956,768,000 after purchasing an additional 85,325 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Rentals by 82,462.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,606,661 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,300,962,000 after buying an additional 1,604,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Rentals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,566,802 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,264,326,000 after buying an additional 9,256 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Rentals by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 996,014 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $862,110,000 after buying an additional 57,002 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of United Rentals by 15.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 787,877 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $637,968,000 after buying an additional 105,287 shares during the period. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on URI. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $775.00 to $765.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $800.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $985.00 to $835.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of United Rentals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $814.08.

United Rentals Price Performance

URI opened at $734.83 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $745.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $769.84. The firm has a market cap of $47.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.68. United Rentals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.48 and a twelve month high of $896.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $11.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.65 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 34.21%. Equities research analysts expect that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. This is a positive change from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.83%.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.