New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 284 Shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 284 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Buckle were worth $11,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Impala Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Buckle by 43.3% during the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 365,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,049,000 after buying an additional 110,273 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Buckle in the third quarter valued at about $4,753,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Buckle by 5.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,338,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,849,000 after acquiring an additional 72,532 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Buckle by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,216,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,509,000 after acquiring an additional 48,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Buckle in the third quarter worth about $1,629,000. 53.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKE. StockNews.com raised shares of Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised shares of Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

Buckle Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE BKE opened at $41.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 1.14. The Buckle, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.87 and a twelve month high of $54.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.01.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.01). Buckle had a return on equity of 44.11% and a net margin of 16.21%. The company had revenue of $293.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Buckle’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Buckle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $2.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a yield of 2.6%. Buckle’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

Insider Transactions at Buckle

In related news, EVP Kari G. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.29, for a total transaction of $1,045,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,872,468.66. This trade represents a 11.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total value of $1,087,690.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,781,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,747,615.20. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,542 shares of company stock worth $5,267,351. Company insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

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.