Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Holdings in Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,109,406 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 17,742 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.78% of Tractor Supply worth $233,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TSCO. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 123.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,079,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $795,735,000 after purchasing an additional 8,329,462 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Tractor Supply in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $274,959,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Tractor Supply by 719.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,508,661 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $256,408,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958,205 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in Tractor Supply by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 12,713,409 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $670,887,000 after buying an additional 3,753,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in Tractor Supply by 505.1% during the 3rd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 4,329,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,222,000 after buying an additional 3,614,097 shares in the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tractor Supply news, EVP Colin Yankee sold 11,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.35, for a total value of $618,259.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,519,255.25. This represents a 19.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 84,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.16, for a total value of $4,501,057.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 606,842 shares in the company, valued at $32,259,720.72. The trade was a 12.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 222,348 shares of company stock valued at $11,959,621 over the last 90 days. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TSCO shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Tractor Supply from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Tractor Supply from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.78.

Tractor Supply Trading Down 2.8%

TSCO stock opened at $48.10 on Friday. Tractor Supply Company has a 12 month low of $46.85 and a 12 month high of $63.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.30 and its 200 day moving average is $54.36. The company has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Tractor Supply had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 44.36%. Tractor Supply’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Tractor Supply Company will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. Tractor Supply’s payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Tractor Supply Profile

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) is a specialty retailer focused on products for the home, farm, ranch and outdoors. The company operates a network of physical retail locations complemented by an e-commerce platform, offering a one-stop source of supplies and equipment for customers with rural and suburban lifestyles. Its merchandise assortment targets a range of needs, from animal and livestock care to maintenance, outdoor power equipment, and seasonal products.

Product categories include animal feed and supplies, pet products, fencing and fencing supplies, equine equipment, lawn and garden tools, work clothing and footwear, and small agricultural and outdoor power equipment.