Merit Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 1,441 DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE:DKS)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE:DKS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,441 shares of the sporting goods retailer's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DKS. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in DICK'S Sporting Goods by 125.1% during the 1st quarter. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,075 shares of the sporting goods retailer's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in DICK'S Sporting Goods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in DICK'S Sporting Goods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in DICK'S Sporting Goods by 46.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the sporting goods retailer's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in DICK'S Sporting Goods by 24,140.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,859 shares of the sporting goods retailer's stock valued at $58,827,000 after purchasing an additional 290,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DKS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on DICK'S Sporting Goods from $171.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on DICK'S Sporting Goods from $217.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on DICK'S Sporting Goods from $273.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. TD Cowen lowered DICK'S Sporting Goods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on DICK'S Sporting Goods from $260.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $220.11.

DICK'S Sporting Goods Price Performance

Shares of DKS traded down $8.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $176.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,422,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,259,042. DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $166.37 and a 52 week high of $254.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $184.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.21. The company has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.07.

DICK'S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The sporting goods retailer reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $3.37. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. DICK'S Sporting Goods had a return on equity of 42.00% and a net margin of 8.65%. On average, analysts forecast that DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. will post 13.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

DICK'S Sporting Goods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.2125 per share. This represents a $4.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. DICK'S Sporting Goods's payout ratio is 34.69%.

DICK'S Sporting Goods declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the sporting goods retailer to purchase up to 18.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

DICK'S Sporting Goods Profile

Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc engages in the retailing of an extensive assortment of authentic sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories. It also offers its products both online and through mobile applications. The company was founded by Richard T. Stack in 1948 and is headquartered in Coraopolis, PA.