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

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 26.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BLBD. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1,879.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 196,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,479,000 after acquiring an additional 186,799 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 96.0% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 6,517 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 25,745 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 36.5% in the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,379 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 21,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% in the fourth 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 period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.79.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.95. 438,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 609,338. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $55.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.01. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.41.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

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

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.