First Trust Advisors LP Sells 42,355 Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 72.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,069 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,355 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $9,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Dillard’s by 28,394.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 226,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,354,000 after purchasing an additional 225,734 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,686,000 after purchasing an additional 12,863 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 73,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,652,000 after purchasing an additional 7,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 67,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,167,000 after buying an additional 14,718 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 75.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,687,000 after buying an additional 28,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DDS. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $521.33.

Dillard’s Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of DDS stock opened at $589.85 on Friday. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 1-year low of $449.64 and a 1-year high of $741.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $567.64 and a 200-day moving average of $590.66.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $16.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.13 by $5.91. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 31.43% and a net margin of 10.09%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 35.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is presently 2.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dillard’s news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.18, for a total transaction of $243,672.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,183,177. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

Dillard’s Company Profile

Dillard’s, Inc (NYSE:DDS), headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a U.S.-based department store chain founded by William T. Dillard in 1938. Over more than eight decades of operation, the company has grown from a single store in Nashville, Arkansas, to a prominent retailer with a national footprint. Dillard’s equity is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DDS.

The company operates approximately 280 departmental stores across 29 states, offering a broad assortment of merchandise that includes men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and home furnishings.