Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 274,954 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,074 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Mercury Systems worth $11,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Mercury Systems during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Mercury Systems by 59.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Mercury Systems by 53.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,290 shares of the technology company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 762.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the technology company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Mercury Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercury Systems

In related news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp sold 88,152 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.27, for a total value of $4,078,793.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,861,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $317,472,952.51. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Ratner sold 3,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total value of $185,648.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 56,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,119.90. The trade was a 6.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,883 shares of company stock worth $4,362,791 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Mercury Systems from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Mercury Systems from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mercury Systems from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.29.

Mercury Systems Price Performance

Shares of Mercury Systems stock traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $50.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 583,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,251. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.72, a P/E/G ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 0.71. Mercury Systems Inc has a one year low of $31.66 and a one year high of $54.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.44 and a quick ratio of 2.25.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Mercury Systems had a negative net margin of 7.33% and a negative return on equity of 0.77%. The business had revenue of $211.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Mercury Systems Inc will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Mercury Systems Company Profile

Mercury Systems, Inc, a technology company, manufactures and sells components, products, modules, and subsystems for aerospace and defense industries in the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Its products and solutions are deployed in approximately 300 programs with 25 defense contractors and commercial aviation customers.