Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC Invests $1.20 Million in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Dollar General by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,899,000 after purchasing an additional 182,300 shares in the last quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,424,000 after buying an additional 3,994,070 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter valued at $194,832,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE DG opened at $82.99 on Tuesday. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $168.07. The company has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $73.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.03.

About Dollar General

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.