California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 1,016,031 Shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO - Free Report) by 394.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,273,508 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,016,031 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.24% of Tractor Supply worth $67,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Tractor Supply by 392.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,033,972 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,397,643,000 after purchasing an additional 51,031,178 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Tractor Supply by 391.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,821,654 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $574,197,000 after buying an additional 8,617,869 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Tractor Supply during the 4th quarter worth about $329,458,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Tractor Supply during the 4th quarter worth about $289,491,000. Finally, Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 398.9% in the fourth quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,118,785 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $271,674,000 after acquiring an additional 4,092,808 shares during the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on Tractor Supply from $262.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Tractor Supply from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.22.

Tractor Supply Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TSCO traded down $3.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.40. 7,533,363 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,086,192. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.61. Tractor Supply has a 52 week low of $48.30 and a 52 week high of $61.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $27.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.88.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.28 by ($1.84). Tractor Supply had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 49.01%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Tractor Supply will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.92 dividend. This is an increase from Tractor Supply's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.02%. Tractor Supply's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.10%.

Tractor Supply declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew L. Rubin sold 3,850 shares of Tractor Supply stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.69, for a total value of $222,106.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,787 shares in the company, valued at $1,833,792.03. This trade represents a 10.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Colin Yankee sold 24,602 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total transaction of $1,332,198.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,821,876.75. The trade was a 42.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,993 shares of company stock worth $7,538,068 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Tractor Supply Company Profile

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.