Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 9,130 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 26.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,954 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,130 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.14% of Blue Bird worth $1,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 1,879.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 196,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,479,000 after purchasing an additional 186,799 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 96.0% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,303 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock worth $93,752,000 after acquiring an additional 25,745 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,379 shares of the company's stock worth $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 21,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock worth $51,576,000 after acquiring an additional 160,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total value of $451,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,630,193.57. The trade was a 14.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $554,151.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 270,766 shares in the company, valued at $11,290,942.20. This represents a 4.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,149 shares of company stock worth $1,369,666 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BLBD. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $45.35. The company had a trading volume of 435,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,228. The company's 50 day moving average price is $42.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $55.60.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 64.83%. The company had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells school buses in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Bus and Parts. It offers Type C, Type D, and specialty buses; and alternative power options through its propane powered, gasoline powered, compressed natural gas powered, and electric powered school buses, as well as diesel engines.