Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 4,094 Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC)

Key Points

• Essex Investment Management Co. LLC reduced its stake in Generac Holdings Inc. by 11.8% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.05% of the company worth $3.88 million.
• CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of Generac stock for $712,000, decreasing his holdings by 0.88% to approximately $80.17 million.
• Generac faced target price reductions from multiple analysts, with Wells Fargo lowering theirs from $165 to $128, while TD Cowen set a price target of $155 and maintained a "buy" rating.

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC - Free Report) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,615 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,094 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC owned 0.05% of Generac worth $3,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Generac during the fourth quarter worth $3,638,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Generac by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 68,993 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,697,000 after buying an additional 15,147 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Generac by 19.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,311 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Generac in the first quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Generac by 15.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 25,520 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,345 shares during the last quarter. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.40, for a total value of $712,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 562,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $80,166,358.40. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Generac Price Performance

Shares of GNRC stock traded down $4.14 on Tuesday, reaching $151.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,720,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,583. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Generac Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $99.50 and a one year high of $195.94. The business's 50-day moving average is $137.52 and its 200 day moving average is $133.74.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.27. Generac had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 18.90%. The firm had revenue of $942.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $921.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GNRC. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Generac from $173.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Generac from $171.00 to $127.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Generac from $205.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised shares of Generac from a "neutral" rating to a "mixed" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Generac from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $165.85.

Generac Company Profile

Generac Holdings Inc designs, manufactures, and distributes various energy technology products and solution worldwide. The company offers residential automatic standby generators, automatic transfer switch, air-cooled engine residential standby generators, and liquid-cooled engine generators; Mobile Link, a remote monitoring system for home standby generators; residential storage solution, which consists of a system of batteries, an inverter, photovoltaic optimizers, power electronic controls, and other components; smart home solutions, such as smart thermostats and a suite of home monitoring products.