Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) shares recently reached a 52-week high of $70.76 before closing at $69.17, reflecting positive investor sentiment.
• The company reported a significant earnings beat with an EPS of $0.47, exceeding estimates by $0.26, and a 9.9% year-over-year revenue increase to $273.11 million.
• Analyst ratings vary with a consensus target price of $60.71, but overall sentiment remains strong with three analysts issuing a Strong Buy rating.

Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $70.76 and last traded at $69.17, with a volume of 162953 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MRCY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Mercury Systems from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial raised Mercury Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Mercury Systems from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised Mercury Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mercury Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Three investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.71.

Mercury Systems Trading Down 1.1%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -109.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $244.56 million. Mercury Systems had a positive return on equity of 0.58% and a negative net margin of 4.16%.The business's quarterly 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, equities research analysts forecast that Mercury Systems Inc will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Mercury Systems

In related news, EVP Stuart Kupinsky sold 1,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.46, for a total transaction of $78,641.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 70,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,531,344.62. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David E. Farnsworth sold 7,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.46, for a total value of $488,091.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 161,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,399,073.96. The trade was a 4.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 850,752 shares of company stock worth $55,622,679 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRCY. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 392,358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,479,000 after buying an additional 46,688 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Mercury Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Mercury Systems by 190.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 151,476 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,362,000 after buying an additional 99,391 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Mercury Systems by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 117,973 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,955,000 after buying an additional 42,533 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Mercury Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $278,000. 95.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.