William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $71.86 Million Stock Position in Mercury Systems Inc $MRCY

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management cut its Mercury Systems stake by 60.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 1.5 million shares and still holding 984,273 shares valued at about $71.86 million.
• Mercury Systems reported a strong quarterly earnings beat, posting $0.27 EPS versus the $0.06 estimate and revenue of $235.76 million, up 11.5% year over year.
• Analyst views remain mixed but lean positive overall, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.89, while insiders have recently sold shares as well.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY - Free Report) by 60.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 984,273 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,503,684 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.64% of Mercury Systems worth $71,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRCY. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury Systems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $755,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mercury Systems by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 855,441 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,861,000 after buying an additional 290,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Mercury Systems by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 159,617 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,878,000 after buying an additional 18,916 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Mercury Systems by 161.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 50,769 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,188,000 after buying an additional 31,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Mercury Systems by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 124,973 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,731,000 after buying an additional 29,057 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.99% of the company's stock.

Mercury Systems Price Performance

Shares of MRCY stock opened at $98.55 on Monday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $82.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -410.63 and a beta of 0.83. Mercury Systems Inc has a one year low of $45.88 and a one year high of $103.84.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $235.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.56 million. Mercury Systems had a positive return on equity of 2.22% and a negative net margin of 1.46%.Mercury Systems's quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Mercury Systems Inc will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Howard L. Lance sold 4,832 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.98, for a total value of $429,951.36. Following the sale, the director owned 27,272 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,426,662.56. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David E. Farnsworth sold 3,625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.87, for a total value of $307,653.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 157,701 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,384,083.87. This represents a 2.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 469,514 shares of company stock worth $42,960,291 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Mercury Systems from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial raised Mercury Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $102.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Mercury Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Mercury Systems in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.89.

About Mercury Systems

Mercury Systems, Inc NASDAQ: MRCY is a technology company that designs, manufactures and markets secure processing subsystems for aerospace and defense applications. The company's products are built to address the stringent security, safety and reliability requirements of mission-critical programs, with a focus on radar, electronic warfare, intelligence and other sensor and processing functions. Mercury's offerings encompass rugged embedded computing modules, high-performance radio frequency (RF) and microwave components, digital signal processing subsystems and secure networking solutions.

Since its origins in advanced signal processing, Mercury Systems has expanded its capabilities through a combination of internal development and targeted acquisitions.

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