Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 655,400 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 1,272.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 706,891 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 655,400 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.32% of Dollar General worth $53,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Dollar General by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,231,285 shares of the company's stock worth $1,913,036,000 after buying an additional 160,853 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,450 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,361,216 shares of the company's stock worth $405,425,000 after purchasing an additional 118,204 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $399,433,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $306,424,000 after buying an additional 3,994,070 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Melius Research raised shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Melius raised shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.75.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG traded down $2.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.51. 1,482,880 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,882,054. The company's 50-day moving average is $83.03 and its 200 day moving average is $78.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General's payout ratio is 46.18%.

About Dollar General

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.