Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 8,969 Shares of Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO - Free Report) by 81.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,966 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 8,969 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Astronics worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in Astronics by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,150,355 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $18,360,000 after buying an additional 181,619 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Astronics by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 998,506 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $15,936,000 after buying an additional 58,149 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Astronics by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 881,504 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $14,069,000 after buying an additional 325,904 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Astronics by 493.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 363,286 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,798,000 after buying an additional 302,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Astronics by 139.3% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 286,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,576,000 after buying an additional 166,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert S. Keane sold 77,099 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $1,892,780.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,346 shares in the company, valued at $155,794.30. This represents a 92.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 10.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Astronics Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Astronics stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 229,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 319,484. Astronics Co. has a 52-week low of $14.13 and a 52-week high of $31.15. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -158.89 and a beta of 1.44. The firm's 50-day moving average is $24.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.19. Astronics had a negative net margin of 0.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.94%. The company had revenue of $205.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $192.53 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Astronics Co. will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Astronics from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Astronics Company Profile

Astronics Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products for the aerospace, defense, and electronics industries in the United States, rest of North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Test Systems. The Aerospace segment offers lighting and safety systems, electrical power generation systems, distribution and seat motions systems, aircraft structures, avionics products, system certification, and other products.