California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 658,749 Shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO - Free Report) by 396.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 824,840 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 658,749 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of Tractor Supply worth $43,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Tractor Supply by 392.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,033,972 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,397,643,000 after buying an additional 51,031,178 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Tractor Supply by 401.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,789,249 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,262,258,000 after buying an additional 19,048,385 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Tractor Supply by 403.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 22,256,534 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,180,932,000 after buying an additional 17,834,643 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Tractor Supply by 403.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,433,135 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,031,122,000 after buying an additional 15,575,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Tractor Supply by 334.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,429,288 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $818,421,000 after buying an additional 11,880,010 shares during the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on TSCO shares. Raymond James dropped their target price on Tractor Supply from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Tractor Supply from $62.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Tractor Supply from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group set a $54.00 price objective on Tractor Supply in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tractor Supply currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.02.

Tractor Supply Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ TSCO traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.42. The company had a trading volume of 7,785,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,174,335. Tractor Supply has a 12-month low of $46.85 and a 12-month high of $61.53. The stock has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50-day moving average is $51.24 and its 200 day moving average is $53.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). Tractor Supply had a return on equity of 49.01% and a net margin of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $3.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Tractor Supply will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tractor Supply Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Tractor Supply's payout ratio is currently 45.77%.

Tractor Supply declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew L. Rubin sold 2,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.76, for a total transaction of $145,445.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,538,410.72. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Tractor Supply 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.