Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Trims Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 92.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,050 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,297,067,000 after buying an additional 3,457,393 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,884,000 after buying an additional 1,043,141 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 283.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 927,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,077,000 after buying an additional 685,000 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 78.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,426,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,904,000 after buying an additional 627,844 shares during the period. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased its stake in Dollar General by 744.8% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 638,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,574,000 after purchasing an additional 563,095 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Dollar General from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Argus boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.08.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $142.67 on Wednesday. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $101.09 and a 12-month high of $222.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 4.29%. The business had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.22%.

Dollar General Profile

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.