The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) Stock

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs raised its price target for Mercury Systems from $35.00 to $39.00, but maintains a "sell" rating, indicating a potential downside of 40.88% from the current stock price.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings and price targets for Mercury Systems, with Raymond James changing its rating to "strong-buy" and increasing its target to $80.00.
• Mercury Systems reported a quarterly EPS of $0.47, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenues increasing by 9.9% compared to the previous year, totaling $273.11 million.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Free Report) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sell rating on the technology company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MRCY. 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 report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Mercury Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRCY traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $66.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,234,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,968. The business's fifty day moving average is $53.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -101.06, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. Mercury Systems has a twelve month low of $32.32 and a twelve month high of $69.95.

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%. Mercury Systems's revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mercury Systems will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp sold 797,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,139,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,964,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $390,185,356.46. This trade represents a 11.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Steven Ratner sold 1,839 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.48, for a total value of $98,349.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,881,105.52. This represents a 4.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercury Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Mercury Systems by 11.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 274,954 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,848,000 after purchasing an additional 29,074 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $241,000. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mercury Systems in the first quarter worth about $848,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Mercury Systems by 6,776.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 45,589 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,964,000 after purchasing an additional 44,926 shares during the period. 95.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.