Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 201,135 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management cut its Acuity stake by 61.8%, selling 201,135 shares in the third quarter and retaining 124,484 shares valued at about $38.6 million.
• Acuity reported quarterly EPS of $5.77, beating the $5.57 consensus, while revenue of $1.24 billion matched expectations and increased 2.9% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $374.20; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI - Free Report) by 61.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,484 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 201,135 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.42% of Acuity worth $38,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Acuity by 8.8% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 42,944 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $16,175,000 after acquiring an additional 3,478 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in shares of Acuity by 63.7% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 20,170 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $7,597,000 after purchasing an additional 7,846 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,450,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,736,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth $1,121,983,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.21% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acuity news, CEO Neil Ashe sold 22,060 shares of Acuity stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total transaction of $7,000,299.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,373,520.46. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Karen Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total value of $659,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,047 shares of company stock worth $11,537,354 in the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Acuity Stock Performance

AYI traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $330.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 183,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,075. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $313.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.65. The firm has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.24. Acuity, Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.04 and a 12 month high of $380.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.57 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.24 billion. Acuity had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.20 EPS. Analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Acuity in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Acuity from $440.00 to $415.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Acuity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $374.20.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity NYSE: AYI designs, manufactures and sells lighting and building-management solutions. Its offerings include indoor and outdoor luminaires, lighting controls, building automation systems and related software for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential settings. The company sells products under a portfolio of brands, including Lithonia Lighting, Juno, Peerless, Gotham and Distech Controls. Its solutions help customers manage lighting, building systems and energy use across a range of facilities.

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