American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 52,816 Shares of Mercury Systems Inc $MRCY

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. significantly increased its stake in Mercury Systems Inc. by 524.7%, acquiring 52,816 shares to reach a total of 62,882 shares valued at approximately $2.71 million.
• Insider trades have been notable, with key executives selling a combined total of over 850,000 shares recently, indicating possible strategic adjustments within the company.
• Mercury Systems reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with a revenue of $273.11 million, surpassing analysts' predictions and reflecting a 9.9% increase year-over-year.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY - Free Report) by 524.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,882 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,816 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.11% of Mercury Systems worth $2,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRCY. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Mercury Systems by 196.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,023,508 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,987,000 after purchasing an additional 677,894 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercury Systems in the first quarter worth $8,751,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 8.9% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,258,186 shares of the technology company's stock worth $97,305,000 after acquiring an additional 185,369 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 190.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 151,476 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,362,000 after acquiring an additional 99,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 145.1% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 129,295 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,486,000 after acquiring an additional 76,549 shares during the last quarter. 95.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Mercury Systems from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mercury Systems from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Mercury Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mercury Systems from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Mercury Systems from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.71.

Mercury Systems Stock Performance

MRCY stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $67.40. 123,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 608,716. Mercury Systems Inc has a twelve month low of $32.32 and a twelve month high of $69.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -101.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.26. Mercury Systems had a positive return on equity of 0.58% and a negative net margin of 4.16%.The business had revenue of $273.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.56 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercury Systems Inc will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury Systems

In related news, EVP Steven Ratner sold 7,000 shares of Mercury Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $446,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,155,151.76. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William L. Ballhaus sold 13,050 shares of Mercury Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.46, for a total value of $841,203.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 374,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,170,952.96. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 850,752 shares of company stock valued at $55,622,679 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Mercury Systems Company Profile

Mercury Systems, Inc, a technology company, manufactures and sells components, products, modules, and subsystems for aerospace and defense industries in the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Its products and solutions are deployed in approximately 300 programs with 25 defense contractors and commercial aviation customers.