Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Increases Stock Position in Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO) by 95.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,211 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,301 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.45% of Astronics worth $2,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Astronics by 355.5% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,576 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Astronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in Astronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $135,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Astronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $172,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Astronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Astronics news, Director Robert S. Keane sold 77,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $1,892,780.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $155,794.30. This trade represents a 92.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Astronics Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of ATRO opened at $27.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $970.60 million, a P/E ratio of -144.83 and a beta of 1.44. Astronics Co. has a one year low of $14.13 and a one year high of $28.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.55.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $205.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.53 million. Astronics had a positive return on equity of 6.94% and a negative net margin of 0.82%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Astronics Co. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Astronics from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Astronics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday.

Astronics Profile

Astronics Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products for the aerospace, defense, and electronics industries in the United States, rest of North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Test Systems. The Aerospace segment offers lighting and safety systems, electrical power generation systems, distribution and seat motions systems, aircraft structures, avionics products, system certification, and other products.