24/7 Wall St. » IR

Big Changes to Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings, A to Z

Administrator — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:05:01 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released their most recent U.S.-listed equity holdings for the Berkshire Hathaway empire. This cut off date is as of March 31, 2012 and Mr. Buffett has already said that he was buying some shares since the end of the quarter on weakness.

Also, keep in mind that portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are still new and those new positions of under $200 million $300 million are likely tied to them.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through line by line of each position to see which stocks have been bought and sold as new positions, as well as having added in whether or not the number of shares grew or shrank on each since the prior quarter. We had added some color in on some of the positions if applicable.

Be advised that the number of subsidiaries that this filing covers is 14 entities rather than 18 entities in the prior quarter. There is also a note in the 13F filing showing that the SEC has granted “Confidential Treatment” on some Berkshire stock holdings and that likely suggests that Buffett is still acquiring a position he does not want the public to know about yet. This filing does not signal the half-dozen or more European shares that Buffett said he bought so that remains an outstanding issue as well.

The value of the stock portfolio was $66,151,587,000 at the end of 2011 and this was listed as $75,300,250,000 at the end of March 2012.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) is now 5.6 million shares, HIGHER THAN the 1,793,915 shares last quarter.

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is the SAME SIZE at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter and having been raised one quarter ago.

Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters in past reports.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.

Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is now 6 million shares worth $541 million and that LARGER THAN BEFORE after having been a new position of 2.684 million shares.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION listed at 22.999 million worth over $1.13 billion. This one had been 20.348 million shares worth $870 million one quarter earlier and it had been a new position just two quarters ago at 4.249 million shares.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Compensation, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DG, DVA, featured, GCI, GE, GM, GSK, IBM, INTC, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VIA, VRSK, WFC, WMT, WPO

Nelson Peltz Joins Warren Buffett With Ingersoll-Rand (IR, BRK-A, BRK-B)

Administrator — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:13:45 +0000

Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR) is often overlooked as a key company despite a nearly $13 billion market value. The news is out that Nelson Peltz has taken a 7.1% stake in the company via his Trian Fund and it is easy to see that Peltz is taking an activist investor stake here. The stake is worth $900 million and the fund is joining with CalSTRS in an effort to control a 9.1% stake as far as voting is concerned.

The move joins Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) because the conglomerate owns a stake of 636,000 shares of its common stock. That Berkshire stake is still way down from prior reports but was the same stake as of the end of 2011.

Peltz said in a SEC filing that shares are currently undervalued and the fund wants to communicate its view that things could be better if the company would look at various strategic alternatives including a restructuring of its key business segments.

Ingersoll-Rand is in the design, manufacturing, sales, and servicing of a diverse portfolio of industrial and commercial products in the United States and internationally. Under the current Euro worries, it is worth noting that the company’s official headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland.

It is interesting that the reaction is so muted, but that may be because the DJIA is down another 100 points or so and with international markets on the skid again. The reaction has Ingersoll-Rand shares up 1.4% at $42.83 against a 52-week range of $25.86 to $52.06.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, ADR, Buffett, Conglomerates, Corporate Governance, Insider Activity, Management Change, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, IR

Media Digest (5/9/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:32:04 +0000

Coalition talks in Greece are unlikely to create a new government, raising the chance Greece could leave the eurozone. (Reuters)

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) will launch a takeover of Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ: HGSI). (Reuters)

Toyota (NYSE: TM) says its profits will triple this year. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) director Patti Hart will leave the board as part of a scandal about CEO Scott Thompson’s resume. (Reuters)

A California judge rejects a suit by Proview that claims Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) bought the iPad name from the company for too little money. (Reuters)

Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund will buy 7% of Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR). (WSJ)

Freddie Mac picks former E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) executive Donald Layton to be its CEO. (WSJ)

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is under fire for the use of private jets by its board and management. (WSJ)

The founder of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR), Robert Stiller, and its lead director, William Davis, are demoted because of stock sales. (WSJ)

Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA) increases its share of Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) to 45.2% in an attempt to control the company. (WSJ)

The United States presses India to buy less oil from Iran. (WSJ)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) appoints Kristian Tear as chief operating officer and Frank Boulben as chief marketing officer. (WSJ)

T-Mobile may offer some video streaming without charging it against customer data plans. (WSJ)

JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) will offer prepaid debit cards in its 5,541 branches this summer, a way to increase money from customer fees. (WSJ)

Germany is likely to force Greece to honor obligations for a bailout or leave the eurozone. (NYT)

Hackers attack U.S. natural gas pipelines. (FT)

A Moody’s downgrade of major banks may hurt the financial recovery of the European Union as it throttles back the ability of the financial firms to lend. (FT)

Germany’s Federal Statistics Office says the nation’s exports rose in March. (Bloomberg)

Political factions in Ireland may try to reject austerity as their counterparts in Greece have. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, CHK, ETFC, GMCR, GSK, HGSI, IR, JPM, LMCA, RIMM, SIRI, TM, YHOO

What Happens to Warren Buffett’s Top 10 Performing Stocks of 2012? (BRK-B, BRK-A, USG, IR, MCO, AXP, WFC, V, BK, VRSK, INTC, MA, AAPL, JNJ, BAC)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:46:56 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) will be in the news quite a bit now that the world’s most famous investor, chairman Warren Buffett, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We already have offered a brief road map of what investors can expect in the months ahead based on the face value of the news and based on Mr. Buffett’s comments. With so many investors wondering what comes next, we wanted to take a look at Berkshire Hathaway’s best-performing stock holdings so far in 2012.

Some investors may worry that, if Buffett were to leave, the portfolio would perhaps find a large rotation out of current positions. While anything is possible, we expect almost no change whatsoever to the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio based on the cancer news. Some new stocks may still get added with two new portfolio managers inside the conglomerate. Some stocks also may get paired down further. That being said, Buffett has treated these holdings in many cases as though they are “partner companies” rather than mere stock investments that are to be bought and sold solely based on the price gain or loss at a certain time.

Buffett’s top 10 performers so far this year are significantly outperforming the broader market indexes. The DJIA is currently up about 8.1% so far in 2012, and the S&P 500 Index is outperforming the DJIA with a gain of 11.3%, due to such a high weighting and strong performance of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) is only up by 5.7% so far in 2012, and that is before the effect of Buffett’s cancer news. Only one of Berkshire Hathaway’s 30-plus common stocks is down so far in 2012, and that is Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), with a loss of only 1.2%.

What was most interesting about the holdings noted as 2012’s 10 best performers is that the dividends are often paltry. Most have dividend yields that are well below average. We have given some color on each position, shown some trends on each, and shown the price and relative price performance on each. It is no coincidence that the financial stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio are up so much when you consider that the financial sector led the market in the first quarter and so far this year.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is Warren Buffett’s single best stock performer so far in 2012, as Americans continue to look for ways to play a coming housing recovery. The latest NAHB confidence dip may be a concern, but perhaps a remodel housing economy can be enough to return a turnaround here. What is interesting is that Thomson Reuters is currently looking for a loss of $1.30 per share in 2012 and a loss of $0.52 in 2013, despite what it expects to be rising sales. Unlike most of Buffett’s top stocks, USG pays no common dividend. The $16.89 share price compares too a 52-week trading range of $5.75 to $19.44.

Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR) turned out to be Buffett’s second-best common stock in 2012, with a gain of 32%. The company makes tools, compressed air systems, ARO fluid products and lifting and material handling products, among other products and services. The dividend yield here is roughly 1.6%. At $40.06, its 52-week trading range is $25.86 to $52.33.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Banking, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity, Large Cap Stocks, Mutual Funds, Shareholder Issues Tagged: AAPL, AXP, BAC, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, INTC, IR, JNJ, MA, MCO, USG, V, VRSK, WFC

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings, A to K (BRK-B, BRK-A, AXP, BK, KO, CVS, CDCO, COP, COST, DVA, DG, GCI, GE, GSK, INTC, IR, IBM, JNJ, KFT, XOM)

Administrator — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:48:43 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released the latest holdings of U.S.-listed equities as of December 30, 2011. These public stock holdings have been broken down into two groups so it is more concise. Keep in mind that portfolio manager Todd Combs is still relatively new and none of the positions from the newer portfolio manager Ted Weschler will likely be reflected at all in these positions yet as the cut-off date is December 31, 2011.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was 1,793,915 shares, SAME AS last quarter.
CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is LARGER POSITION at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter.
Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) was roughly 1.5 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.
Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.
Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is a NEW POSITION of 2.684 million shares worth $203 million.
DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION listed as 20.348 million shares worth $870 million; was a new position of 4.249 million shares one quarter earlier.
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) is that SAME SIZE as before at 4.497 million shares; was a new position and a grown position before. This one of our Top Stocks for the Next Decade.
Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) was 1.74 million, SAME AS BEFORE but decreased in prior quarters.
General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is a LARGER POSITION of 3.877 million shares worth $257 million after being a new position before of 3.064 million shares.
General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) is 7.777 million shares; SAME AS before.
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) was 636,600; SAME AS last quarter but still way down from prior reports.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is a LARGER POSITION of 11.495 million shares worth $278 million; this was a new position of 9.333 million shares last quarter.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) is now 63.905 million shares worth some $11.75 billion now after having been a new position with an average cost of about $170 per share.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was a LOWER POSITION of about 29 million shares; lower than 37.4 million last quarter and way under the peak of 62 million shares at one point in prior quarters.
Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) was a LOWER POSITION at about 87 million shares, down from 89.7+ million last quarter and this has continued to be lightened up since the Cadbury purchase.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was ELIMINATED FROM THE PORTFOLIO after having been only 421,800 shares last quarter and lowered earlier.

PAGE TWO…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘L to Z’

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Private Equity Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DG, DVA, GCI, GE, GSK, IBM, INTC, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMGN, AUO, AONE, ELN, EXPE, IR, MMM, MRH, NYX, POST, RIMM, SOHU, AAPL)

Administrator — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:29:44 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Thursday morning.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
AU Optronics Corporation (NYSE: AUO) targets raised by Nomura and also by Credit Suisse.
A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) Cut to Sell at Wunderlich.
Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Cut to Hold at S&P Capital IQ.
Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Montpelier Re Holdings (NYSE: MRH) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) Resumed as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Reiterated Hold with $15 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

See the new high $665 price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) from this morning.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, AONE, AUO, ELN, EXPE, IR, MMM, MRH, NYX, POST, RIMM, SOHU

Warren Buffett’s Top Stocks of 2012 (BRK-B, SPY, USG, BAC, IR, MCO, INTC, WFC, AXP)

Administrator — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:23:17 +0000

2012 is getting off to a great start for the equity markets. We recently looked at the performance of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B), which is underperforming this year so far with a gain of 3.1% to-date in 2012. The S&P 500, or the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) is up 5.5%. We looked through all of Warren Buffett’s stock holdings of late and some of his non-equity holdings to see which positions were leading so far.

The surprise winner so far in 2012 after the first month is USG Corporation (NYSE: USG). then there are stocks like Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP). Yep, the other winners of these seven holdings are mostly tied to finance.

We have evaluated the performance to date (from FinViz.com) and added in some color on each. We have also shown how the price compares to the 52-week highs or to the consensus price target as well, and included in some cases whether the position is substantial or not.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is up 32.8% year-to-date and is actually Berkshire Hathaway’s top performing stock. With so much interest in the bottoming out of housing at some point in 2012, it may not be that ridiculous even if the fundamentals have not changed all that much yet. The concern here is that at $13.50 it now trades above the consensus $13.30 price target. Buffett holds over 17 million USG shares.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is up 32.4% year-to-date and the new large preferred position is back to where Warren Buffett doesn’t look foolish for dreaming up his investment in BofA while in the bath. At $7.36 there is still plenty of upside to the $8.90 price target and this remains (and is expected to remain) well under book value.

Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) is up 15.5% year-to-date, not bad for what is usually a slower-moving company with a portfolio of industrial and commercial products. At $35.18, it does not have much upside left to the consensus price target of $37.94 but it is still way off the 52-week high of $52.33. Buffett’s position is way down from prior periods and is only 636,600 shares as of the last report. This position just can’t move the entire Berkshire Hathaway Barometer too much.

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is up 11.6% year-to-date. The credit rating agency has been a controversial position that Buffett has lightened up on through time. At $37.60, it is close to the consensus price target of $39.60 and under the 52-week high of $41.93. Buffett did lighten up a bit on this position but still holds roughly 28.4 million shares.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 9.5% year-to-date and is one of the news 2011 investments that Mr. Buffett hid. It was also his first technology pick as far as pure hardware is concerned. At $26.55, Intel is very close to its 52-week high of $27.00 and close to its consensus analyst price target of $27.17.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 8.9% year-to-date and is up the least of the big money-center banks. It is also the only one of the money-center banks trading above book value because the restructuring regulatory climate over future earnings will create the least amount of change at Wells Fargo. Buffett keeps adding here and now holds over 361 million shares as one of his biggest positions ever.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 7.7% year-to-date, which is lower than many financials. The recent earnings report showed improvement but perhaps a trend towards peaking of the improving credit metrics of AmEx customers. Buffett’s position is roughly 151.6 million shares.

Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent holdings in entirety can be found here.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Banking, Buffett, Dividend, Index, Value Investing Tagged: AXP, BAC, BRK-B, INTC, IR, MCO, SPY, USG, WFC

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings, A to K (BRK-B, BRK-A, AXP, BK, KO, CVS, CDCO, COP, COST, DG, XOM, GCI, GE, GSK, INTC, IR, IBM, JNJ, KFT)

Administrator — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:44:36 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released the latest holdings of U.S.-listed equities as of September 30, 2011. These public stock holdings have been broken down into two groups of ‘A to K’ and ‘L to Z’ so it is more concise and the new positions worth $200 million or so are likely that of new portfolio manager Todd Combs. We have included some accompanying notes on each.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was 1,793,915 shares, SAME AS last quarter.
CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is a NEW POSITION of 5,661,000 shares worth $190.1 million.
Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) was roughly 1.5 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.
Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.
DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a NEW POSITION listed as 4,249,400 shares worth $ 179.6 million.
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) is a LARGER POSITION at 4.497 million shares worth some $169.8 million versus last quarter’s new position of 1,497,800 shares. This one of our Top Stocks for the Next Decade.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was 421,800 shares; SAME AS before but lower than the 1.276 million shares originally.
Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) was 1.74 million, SAME AS BEFORE but decreased in prior quarters.
General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is a NEW POSITION of 3.064 million shares worth $174.3 million.
General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) is 7.777 million shares; SAME AS before. Please note that this does not include the huge preferred shares from late in 2008 that are likely to be called from Buffett later this year.
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) was 636,600; SAME AS last quarter but still way down from prior reports.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is a NEW POSITION of 9.333 million shares worth $199.6 million.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) is a NEW POSITION and we found out this morning that Buffett’s stake is nearly 64 million shares worth well over $10 billion with an average cost of about $170 per share.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was just over 37.4 million, a LOWER POSITION versus the 42.6 million shares the June quarter and way under the peak of 62 million shares at one point in prior quarters.
Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) was a LOWER POSITION at 89.7+ million versus 99,467,624 shares at the June quarter and way down from before selling during the Cadbury purchase.

Despite the revelation made this morning and despite the new positions in IBM and Intel, there is still data not represented in Berkshire Hathaway’s full holdings: Confidential information has been omitted from the Form 13F and filed separately with the Commission. It looks as though Warren Buffett was again given permission to delay or omit some of the new holdings.

PAGE TWO…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘L to Z’

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Mutual Funds, Private Equity Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DG, GCI, GE, GSK, IBM, INTC, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (APD, MO, ARMH, ATHN, BRCD, CPO, GE, HON, IR, MGM, MS, NFLX, OXY, PAAS, CODE, VICL, WYNN, YUM)

Administrator — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:09:57 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Reiterated Buy and $108 target at Argus.
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised target and estimates at Citigroup.
Athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) Started as Underperform at Oppenheimer.
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Monday call).
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Buy with $26 target at Argus.
Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $70 at Argus.
Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) Cut to Underperform with $11 target at Credit Suisse.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Sell with $170 target at Janney; reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Spansion Inc. (NASDAQ: CODE) Reiterated Buy and $28 target at Gleacher & Co.
Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) Started as Buy at Canaccord.
Wynn Resorts, Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $61 at Credit Suisse.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: APD, ARMH, ATHN, BRCD, CODE, CPO, GE, HON, IR, MGM, MO, MS, NFLX, OXY, PAAS, VICL, WYNN, YUM

Dividend Watch: Big Companies With Big Dividend Hikes (IR, NEM, PNC, QCOM)

Administrator — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:01:02 +0000

It is time for The Daily Dividend and today’s review is on yet another flurry of dividend hikes from key companies. Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR), Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM), PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC), and QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) are all out with very impressive gains in shareholder treatment today via dividends and/or buybacks.

Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR) had a huge payout hike and a buyback to boot. The industrial and commercial products maker is hiking its quarterly payout by more than 70% (yes, seventy) to $0.12 per quarter from $0.07 per quarter. This takes the yield of 0.6% to 1% with shares up around $49.00. The company also authorized $2 billion for buybacks against what is only a $16 billion market cap.

A key gold dividend announcement came from Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) as the company said that it plans to boost its output and more importantly that it would peg its annual dividend to the price of gold. The firm sees about $1.00 being paid per year where gold prices are currently. The current dividend is about $0.60, or a 1.1% yield, and the new dividend based on adjusted prices is about 1.7% if it remains static. Shares have risen over 3% to $58.45 today and that makes Newmont the dividend king in the gold sector by far.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) is one we had expected to see after the Federal Reserve picked which companies could hike their payouts to shareholders. The hike is a monster one, up 250% to $0.35 per quarter from a current rate of only $0.10 per quarter. The prior 0.6% yield will jump to about 2.2% based on today’s share price nearing $64.00. PNC now also plans to begin repurchasing shares under a 25 million share buyback plan and that was noted as about $500 million for the rest of 2011. The market cap is just over $33 billion.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) may not seem like a traditional dividend player but that just is proving to not be the case. The new payout is going to $0.215 per quarter from $0.19 per quarter before. The company has hiked its payout since at least 2004 and the new yield will be about 1.6%. With its margins it seems like the dividend hikes can continue. For a reference, Thomson Reuters has its non-GAAP earnings estimate at $3.04 for Fiscal September 2011.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Shareholder Issues Tagged: IR, NEM, PNC, QCOM