State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Cuts Stock Position in GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX)

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. trimmed its stake in shares of GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,623,742 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 37,546 shares during the quarter. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. owned approximately 0.16% of GATX worth $871,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in GATX by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,949,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $612,075,000 after buying an additional 17,885 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of GATX by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,294,895 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,509,000 after acquiring an additional 7,585 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GATX by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,099,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $170,370,000 after acquiring an additional 118,306 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of GATX by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 902,691 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $139,881,000 after purchasing an additional 56,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in GATX by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 849,603 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $112,550,000 after purchasing an additional 12,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Sidoti cut shares of GATX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jeffery R. Young sold 297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $48,895.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,212,006.06. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Zmudka sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.83, for a total transaction of $786,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,578.19. This trade represents a 39.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

GATX Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of GATX stock opened at $155.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 3.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.25. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 1.00. GATX Co. has a 1-year low of $122.00 and a 1-year high of $168.89.

GATX (NYSE:GATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. GATX had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 17.92%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Analysts predict that GATX Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GATX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from GATX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. GATX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.40%.

GATX Profile

GATX Corporation, together its subsidiaries, operates as railcar leasing company in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and India. It operates through three segments: Rail North America, Rail International, and Portfolio Management. The company leases tank and freight railcars, and locomotives for petroleum, chemical, food/agriculture, and transportation industries.