Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 5,116,115 Shares of Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC significantly reduced its stake in Dollar Tree by selling 5,116,115 shares, which represents a 78.4% decrease in ownership.
• Dollar Tree's board has authorized a $2.5 billion share buyback program, indicating the company believes its stock is undervalued.
• Several institutional investors, including Marshall Wace LLP and Balyasny Asset Management, have substantially increased their positions in Dollar Tree, showcasing strong institutional interest in the stock.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR - Free Report) by 78.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,408,755 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,116,115 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned 0.65% of Dollar Tree worth $105,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DLTR. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Dollar Tree by 784.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,377,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $328,040,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882,324 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Dollar Tree by 2,489.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,621,456 shares of the company's stock worth $196,452,000 after buying an additional 2,520,237 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Dollar Tree by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,753,693 shares of the company's stock worth $656,000,000 after buying an additional 2,023,819 shares during the last quarter. Corvex Management LP increased its position in Dollar Tree by 155.2% in the fourth quarter. Corvex Management LP now owns 2,886,735 shares of the company's stock worth $216,332,000 after buying an additional 1,755,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Dollar Tree by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 7,940,163 shares of the company's stock worth $595,036,000 after buying an additional 1,000,637 shares during the last quarter. 97.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dollar Tree

In related news, CMO Richard L. Mcneely sold 21,026 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.62, for a total transaction of $1,989,480.12. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 50,419 shares in the company, valued at $4,770,645.78. The trade was a 29.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar Tree Price Performance

NASDAQ:DLTR opened at $115.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.88. Dollar Tree, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.49 and a 52-week high of $118.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.96 and a 200 day moving average of $86.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.05. Dollar Tree had a positive return on equity of 19.36% and a negative net margin of 12.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Dollar Tree, Inc. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar Tree declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 9th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 11.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DLTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $127.00 target price (up from $109.00) on shares of Dollar Tree in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $82.00 target price on Dollar Tree and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on Dollar Tree from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research raised Dollar Tree to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Dollar Tree in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $106.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.89.

Dollar Tree Company Profile

Dollar Tree, Inc operates retail discount stores. The company operates in two segments, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. The Dollar Tree segment offers merchandise at the fixed price of $ 1.25. It provides consumable merchandise, which includes everyday consumables, such as household paper and chemicals, food, candy, health, personal care products, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise comprising toys, durable housewares, gifts, stationery, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, arts and crafts supplies, and other items; and seasonal goods that include Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day merchandise.

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