Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 179,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,822,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Rush Enterprises at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,174,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,528 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,349,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,129,000 after buying an additional 16,082 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,390,000 after purchasing an additional 16,803 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,222,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,993,000 after purchasing an additional 36,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 742,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,709,000 after buying an additional 26,254 shares during the period. 84.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Rush Enterprises

In related news, Director Michael Mcroberts sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.52, for a total transaction of $234,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,918.92. This trade represents a 20.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jody Pollard sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.43, for a total transaction of $634,837.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,892.31. This represents a 78.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ:RUSHA opened at $53.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.06. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.99 and a 52 week high of $65.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.46.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.09. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.90% and a return on equity of 14.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.30%.

Rush Enterprises Company Profile

Rush Enterprises, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retailer of commercial vehicles and related services in the United States and Canada. The company operates a network of commercial vehicle dealerships under the Rush Truck Centers name. Its Rush Truck Centers primarily sell commercial vehicles manufactured by Peterbilt, International, Hino, Ford, Isuzu, IC Bus, Blue Bird, and Dennis Eagle.