Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 15,726,011 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 75.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,010,045 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,726,011 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 2.28% of Dollar General worth $379,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE DG traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.52. The company had a trading volume of 494,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,911,067. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $147.87. The stock's 50 day moving average is $84.97 and its 200-day moving average is $79.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is 46.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.75.

About Dollar General

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.