Mercury Systems Inc $MRCY Shares Sold by JANA Partners Management LP

JANA Partners Management LP reduced its holdings in shares of Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,958,849 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 148,575 shares during the period. Mercury Systems makes up 25.5% of JANA Partners Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. JANA Partners Management LP owned about 6.58% of Mercury Systems worth $484,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mercury Systems during the second quarter worth about $1,146,342,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Mercury Systems by 161.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,527,443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,224,000 after acquiring an additional 943,736 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of Mercury Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,244,000. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mercury Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,460,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercury Systems during the second quarter worth $46,453,000. 95.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mercury Systems

In related news, EVP David E. Farnsworth sold 8,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.31, for a total value of $818,028.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 124,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,496,519.49. This trade represents a 6.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William L. Ballhaus sold 111,076 shares of Mercury Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.12, for a total value of $9,676,941.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 342,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,833,024.32. This represents a 24.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 446,186 shares of company stock valued at $41,432,610. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mercury Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Mercury Systems from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Mercury Systems from $109.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Mercury Systems from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.10.

Mercury Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRCY opened at $84.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.96. Mercury Systems Inc has a one year low of $65.04 and a one year high of $128.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -169.42 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $103.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.09.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 18th. The technology company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.01). Mercury Systems had a negative net margin of 3.02% and a positive return on equity of 1.29%. The company had revenue of $289.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mercury Systems Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury Systems Profile

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.