Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 135,471 Shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 645.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 156,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,471 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $33,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TSCO. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Tractor Supply by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 38,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,312,000 after purchasing an additional 6,494 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 61,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,186,000 after acquiring an additional 5,379 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Tractor Supply by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 10,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Tractor Supply by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Tractor Supply by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. 98.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Tractor Supply from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $245.00) on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Tractor Supply from $234.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $251.25.

Tractor Supply Trading Down 1.6 %

Tractor Supply stock traded down $4.47 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $266.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,269,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,173,694. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Tractor Supply has a 52-week low of $185.00 and a 52-week high of $279.38. The firm has a market cap of $28.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $254.72 and a 200 day moving average of $228.28.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.13. Tractor Supply had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 52.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Tractor Supply will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.84%.

Insider Activity at Tractor Supply

In related news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 20,500 shares of Tractor Supply stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $4,775,065.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 95,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,173,072.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Tractor Supply news, EVP Jonathan S. Estep sold 7,120 shares of Tractor Supply stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.26, for a total value of $1,653,691.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,159,897.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 20,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $4,775,065.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 95,192 shares in the company, valued at $22,173,072.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,090 shares of company stock valued at $21,201,877 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Tractor Supply

Tractor Supply Company operates as a rural lifestyle retailer in the United States. The company offers various merchandise, including livestock and equine feed and equipment, poultry, fencing, and sprayers and chemicals; food, treats, and equipment for dogs, cats, and other small animals, as well as dog wellness products; seasonal and recreation products comprising tractors and riders, lawn and garden, bird feeding, power equipment, and other recreational products; truck, tool, and hardware products, such as truck accessories, trailers, generators, lubricants, batteries, and hardware and tools; and clothing, gift, and décor products consist of clothing, footwear, toys, snacks, and decorative merchandise.