Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in Dollar Tree, Inc. by 37.0%, owning 10,365 shares after selling 6,085 during the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $778,000.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Dollar Tree, with ratings ranging from sell to buy, and a consensus target price of $97.74 reflecting a mixture of expectations.
• Dollar Tree's board has approved a $2.50 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence that its shares are currently undervalued.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR - Free Report) by 37.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,365 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,085 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Dollar Tree were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Dollar Tree by 17.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 1,963 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Dollar Tree by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 8,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar Tree in the 1st quarter valued at $384,000. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 13.0% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,709,331 shares of the company's stock worth $128,319,000 after acquiring an additional 197,256 shares during the period. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 26.0% during the first quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 364,663 shares of the company's stock worth $27,375,000 after purchasing an additional 75,322 shares during the last quarter. 97.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DLTR. Cfra Research raised shares of Dollar Tree to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Dollar Tree from $72.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays raised Dollar Tree from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $82.00 price target on Dollar Tree and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Dollar Tree from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.74.

Dollar Tree Price Performance

Shares of DLTR traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $114.72. 3,154,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,065,441. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $101.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. Dollar Tree, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.49 and a 12-month high of $115.99.

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

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

Insider Activity at Dollar Tree

In related news, CMO Richard L. Mcneely sold 21,026 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 50,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,770,645.78. This trade represents a 29.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.