Rush Enterprises, Inc. $RUSHA Stake Lowered by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 231,342 shares of the company’s stock after selling 762,325 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Rush Enterprises were worth $12,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 33.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Rush Enterprises by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 390,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,851,000 after purchasing an additional 60,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 1st quarter valued at about $221,000. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RUSHA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Rush Enterprises from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Rush Enterprises from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research note on Monday, April 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Raymond Joseph Chess sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $650,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 41,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,678,108.50. The trade was a 19.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Mcroberts sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $577,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,172,220.67. This represents a 33.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 12.68% of the company’s stock.

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

RUSHA opened at $68.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.26 and a 200-day moving average of $63.36. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.67 and a 52-week high of $76.99.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.05. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 3.65%.The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.96%.

Rush Enterprises Company Profile

Rush Enterprises, Inc, headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas, is a leading distributor of commercial vehicles and related products in the United States. Through its Rush Truck Centers subsidiary, the company sells new and used medium- and heavy-duty trucks, buses and specialty vehicles, while also offering factory-authorized parts, collision repair, maintenance and warranty support across its network of dealerships.

Founded in 1965, Rush Enterprises has grown to encompass more than 150 locations in over 20 states, partnering with major manufacturers including Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Volvo and Mack.