Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Twelve brokerages give Mercury Systems an average “Hold” rating, with five buys, four holds, two sells and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $110.10.
• Quarterly results were mixed: Mercury reported $289.78 million in revenue, up 6.1% year over year and above estimates, but earnings of $0.37 per share narrowly missed consensus and net margin remained negative.
• Insiders have been selling while institutions maintain strong ownership: Insiders sold roughly $41.8 million of shares over the past 90 days, whereas institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 95.99% of the stock.

Shares of Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $110.10.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $131.00 price target (up from $126.00) on shares of Mercury Systems in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Mercury Systems in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Mercury Systems from $109.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Mercury Systems from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mercury Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercury Systems news, CEO William Ballhaus sold 111,076 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.12, for a total transaction of $9,676,941.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 342,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,833,024.32. This represents a 24.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Farnsworth sold 8,155 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.31, for a total transaction of $818,028.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 124,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,496,519.49. This represents a 6.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 450,186 shares of company stock worth $41,770,650. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury Systems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Mercury Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,146,342,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury Systems during the second quarter worth $17,454,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury Systems in the second quarter valued at about $4,866,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Mercury Systems in the first quarter valued at about $1,706,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury Systems in the second quarter valued at about $59,460,000. 95.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury Systems Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of MRCY stock opened at $80.43 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $99.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Mercury Systems has a 1 year low of $65.04 and a 1 year high of $128.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -160.86 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 18th. The technology company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $289.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.09 million. Mercury Systems had a positive return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 3.02%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Mercury Systems will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Mercury Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting Mercury Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised several forward earnings estimates. Forecasts increased for Q1 2027 EPS to $0.12 from $0.09, Q2 2027 EPS to $0.15 from $0.11, Q3 2027 EPS to $0.22 from $0.20 and Q4 2027 EPS to $0.33 from $0.29. FY2027 EPS was raised to $0.83 from $0.67, suggesting improved expectations for the company’s medium-term earnings trajectory. Mercury Systems analyst estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Other Zacks revisions were mixed. Estimates were trimmed for Q2 2028 EPS to $0.27 from $0.28, Q3 2028 EPS to $0.32 from $0.33, Q4 2028 EPS to $0.40 from $0.42 and FY2028 EPS to $1.23 from $1.25. Zacks maintained a “Hold” rating, while its newly issued FY2029 estimate stands at $1.46 EPS. Zacks Research estimates for Mercury Systems
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data showed no measurable short position. The update listed zero shares sold short and a zero-day days-to-cover ratio, but the reported figures appear anomalous and provide little actionable information for investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Executive selling may weigh on sentiment. EVP Steven Ratner sold 4,000 shares for approximately $338,000, reducing his direct holdings by 17.19%. The transaction follows several smaller sales in August, although insider transactions do not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s fundamentals. Steven Ratner sells Mercury Systems shares

Mercury Systems Company Profile

Mercury Systems, Inc NASDAQ: MRCY is a technology company that designs, manufactures and markets secure processing subsystems for aerospace and defense applications. The company's products are built to address the stringent security, safety and reliability requirements of mission-critical programs, with a focus on radar, electronic warfare, intelligence and other sensor and processing functions. Mercury's offerings encompass rugged embedded computing modules, high-performance radio frequency (RF) and microwave components, digital signal processing subsystems and secure networking solutions.

Since its origins in advanced signal processing, Mercury Systems has expanded its capabilities through a combination of internal development and targeted acquisitions.

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