Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 429 Shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC reduced its stake in shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TSCO. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Tractor Supply by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,606,455 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $990,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,304 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Tractor Supply by 12.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,330,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $871,691,000 after purchasing an additional 368,859 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Tractor Supply by 2,921.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 357,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,451,000 after purchasing an additional 345,402 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Tractor Supply by 11,952.8% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 241,177 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $63,121,000 after purchasing an additional 239,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Tractor Supply in the second quarter worth $38,070,000. 98.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Tractor Supply from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Tractor Supply from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tractor Supply presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tractor Supply news, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 23,532 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.64, for a total value of $6,957,000.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,862,682.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 23,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.64, for a total value of $6,957,000.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,862,682.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew L. Rubin sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $141,669.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,356,349.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Tractor Supply Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Tractor Supply stock opened at $303.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $32.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $273.10 and its 200 day moving average is $269.80. Tractor Supply has a twelve month low of $185.00 and a twelve month high of $304.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The specialty retailer reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Tractor Supply had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 51.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Tractor Supply will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Tractor Supply Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Tractor Supply’s payout ratio is presently 42.84%.

Tractor Supply Company 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.