Toll Brothers stock sale shows CEO's pessimism: analyst

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Toll Brothers Inc's (TOL.N) Chief Executive Bob Toll's Christmas Eve filing of a plan to sell as many as 3 million shares illustrates the CEO's bleak outlook on the company's business, writes Pali Capital analyst Stephen East in the firm's research blog.

The sale is significant although its size pales in comparison with the chief executive's 2005 stock sale of more than $500 million of company stock near the peak equity price.

It also indicates a sale of Toll Brothers in the foreseeable future is unlikely despite Wall Street's sense that Bob Toll's age and apparent lack of successor made the company a takeout candidate.

East and Pali share Toll's pessimism: "We believe this filing is yet another datapoint that reinforces our thought process that the business will not improve in 2009," East writes.

(Reporting by Helen Chernikoff, editing by Dave Zimmerman)