Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stock Holdings in DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE:DKS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE:DKS) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,098 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in DICK’S Sporting Goods were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DKS. Commerce Bank increased its stake in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 7.1% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,950 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 108.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,647 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock worth $3,057,000 after purchasing an additional 7,621 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in DICK’S Sporting Goods in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,562,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 9.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,500 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 8.3% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. 89.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Julie Lodge-Jarrett sold 5,000 shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total value of $1,139,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,746.96. This trade represents a 23.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Edward W. Stack sold 160,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.25, for a total transaction of $36,817,550.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 8,362,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,917,017,844. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,933 shares of company stock valued at $39,655,456. Insiders own 32.03% of the company’s stock.

DICK’S Sporting Goods Stock Performance

Shares of DKS opened at $206.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $224.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.56. DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.84 and a 12-month high of $254.60.

DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The sporting goods retailer reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.15. DICK’S Sporting Goods had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 42.00%. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. will post 13.89 EPS for the current year.

DICK’S Sporting Goods declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the sporting goods retailer to repurchase up to 18.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

DICK’S Sporting Goods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $1.2125 per share. This represents a $4.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from DICK’S Sporting Goods’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. DICK’S Sporting Goods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DKS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on DICK’S Sporting Goods from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on DICK’S Sporting Goods from $240.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.50.

About DICK’S Sporting Goods

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc engages in the retailing of an extensive assortment of authentic sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories. It also offers its products both online and through mobile applications. The company was founded by Richard T. Stack in 1948 and is headquartered in Coraopolis, PA.