Arizona State Retirement System Has $315,000 Stake in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) by 5.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 481 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Buckle were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Buckle by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,311,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,638,000 after purchasing an additional 24,051 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Buckle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,266,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,179,000 after purchasing an additional 14,079 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Buckle by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 768,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,504,000 after buying an additional 178,794 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Buckle by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 736,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,193,000 after buying an additional 16,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Buckle by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 308,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,407,000 after buying an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. 53.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKE has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Buckle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Buckle from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th.

Buckle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BKE opened at $44.53 on Wednesday. The Buckle, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.31 and a 1 year high of $48.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 23rd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Buckle had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 46.17%. The firm had revenue of $282.39 million during the quarter.

Buckle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Buckle’s payout ratio is 33.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Buckle news, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total transaction of $854,526.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,904,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,564,077.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of Buckle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total value of $854,526.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,904,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,564,077.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Peetz sold 2,500 shares of Buckle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.26, for a total transaction of $100,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $991,321.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,346 shares of company stock worth $4,126,478. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Buckle Profile

The Buckle, Inc operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise primarily comprising BKE, Buckle Black, Salvage, Red by BKE, Daytrip, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Sterling & Stitch, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B.