Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Mercury Systems shares hit a new 52-week high of $78.75 during trading, reflecting a trading volume of over 1.7 million shares.
• A variety of analyst ratings have emerged, with significant target price increases; Raymond James upgraded their rating to "strong-buy" with a target of $80.00.
• Despite a recent positive earnings report, insider sales have raised concerns as executives sold substantial shares, indicating a 1.71% and 4.48% decrease in their ownership.

Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $78.75 and last traded at $75.63, with a volume of 1706448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRCY. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercury Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Mercury Systems from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Mercury Systems from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Mercury Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Mercury Systems from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.71.

Mercury Systems Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -116.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William L. Ballhaus sold 13,050 shares of the 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 $841,203.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 374,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,170,952.96. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stuart Kupinsky sold 1,220 shares of the business'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 $78,641.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 848,980 shares of company stock worth $55,529,247. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRCY. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mercury Systems by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 274,954 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,848,000 after acquiring an additional 29,074 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercury Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury Systems during the first quarter worth $848,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 6,776.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 45,589 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,964,000 after purchasing an additional 44,926 shares during the period. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in Mercury Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,562,000. Institutional investors own 95.99% of the company's stock.

About Mercury Systems

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.