Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 49,822 Shares of Mercury Systems Inc $MRCY

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Mercury Systems Inc. by 0.9%, selling 49,822 shares and retaining approximately 9.22% of the company’s stock valued at $237 million.
• Mercury Systems has seen significant activity from other investors, with institutional investors owning 95.99% of the company’s stock as of the latest filings.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Mercury Systems, with Goldman Sachs giving it a "sell" rating, while Raymond James upgraded it to a "strong-buy" with a new price target of $80.00.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,500,788 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 49,822 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.22% of Mercury Systems worth $237,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,290 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in Mercury Systems by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 6,867 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Mercury Systems by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,984 shares of the technology company's stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Mercury Systems by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 12,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercury Systems news, EVP David E. Farnsworth sold 7,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.46, for a total transaction of $488,091.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 161,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,399,073.96. The trade was a 4.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Ratner sold 1,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.46, for a total transaction of $111,838.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,630,032.46. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 843,752 shares of company stock worth $55,176,359 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRCY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Mercury Systems from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mercury Systems from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mercury Systems from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Mercury Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Mercury Systems from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mercury Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.71.

Mercury Systems Stock Up 1.6%

MRCY traded up $1.0370 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.6770. The company had a trading volume of 215,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 617,468. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $54.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.20. Mercury Systems Inc has a 52 week low of $32.32 and a 52 week high of $69.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.95, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $273.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.56 million. Mercury Systems had a positive return on equity of 0.58% and a negative net margin of 4.16%.The firm's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mercury Systems Inc will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercury Systems 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.