William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 627,268 shares of the company’s stock after selling 142,341 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.79% of Rush Enterprises worth $34,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 34.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,174,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,528 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,349,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,390,000 after buying an additional 16,803 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,222,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,993,000 after buying an additional 36,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 789,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,240,000 after buying an additional 15,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rush Enterprises

In other news, Director Michael Mcroberts sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $922,918.92. This represents a 20.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jody Pollard sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.43, for a total transaction of $634,837.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,892.31. This trade represents a 78.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RUSHA opened at $52.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.99 and a 12 month high of $65.43.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.09. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 3.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.30%.

About Rush Enterprises

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.