Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 4,031 Shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in AAON, Inc. by 26.0%, now holding a total of 19,530 shares valued at approximately $1.53 million.
• Insider selling occurred with CEO Gary D. Fields selling 37,189 shares for about $3.65 million, which represents a 36.86% decrease in his ownership.
• Analysts have mixed views on AAON, with one sell rating, four buy ratings, and an average price target of $111.50 for the stock.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON - Free Report) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,530 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in AAON were worth $1,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in AAON by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 313 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AAON by 613.3% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 321 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of AAON by 652.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 331 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AAON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in AAON by 81.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 589 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary D. Fields sold 8,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.66, for a total value of $824,501.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,613,602.06. This represents a 23.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon Douglas Wichman sold 21,302 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $2,225,632.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $914,617.92. This represents a 70.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,823 shares of company stock worth $7,122,451. Insiders own 18.70% of the company's stock.

AAON Trading Down 2.2%

AAON traded down $1.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.65. 1,588,054 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,262,727. AAON, Inc. has a one year low of $68.98 and a one year high of $144.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 42.97 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.53.

AAON (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.13. AAON had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The firm had revenue of $322.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AAON, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AAON Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. AAON's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AAON from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Sidoti raised shares of AAON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.50.

About AAON

AAON, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and selling air conditioning and heating equipment in the United States and Canada. The company operates through three segments: AAON Oklahoma, AAON Coil Products, and BASX. It offers rooftop units, data center cooling solutions, cleanroom systems, chillers, packaged outdoor mechanical rooms, air handling units, makeup air units, energy recovery units, condensing units, geothermal/water-source heat pumps, coils, and controls.