Marshall Wace LLP Trims Stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 93.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,698 shares of the company's stock after selling 129,702 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Blue Bird were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,977,000 after buying an additional 2,998,453 shares in the last quarter. EVR Research LP increased its stake in Blue Bird by 173.3% in the fourth quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 410,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,838,000 after acquiring an additional 260,000 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,746,000. Castellan Group bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth about $7,748,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter worth about $6,743,000. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:BLBD traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.94. 516,084 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 659,471. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.46 and a 200 day moving average of $37.74. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLBD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $108,565.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Company Profile

Blue Bird Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells school buses in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Bus and Parts. It offers Type C, Type D, and specialty buses; and alternative power options through its propane powered, gasoline powered, compressed natural gas powered, and electric powered school buses, as well as diesel engines.