Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRCY) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $44.47 and last traded at $43.59, with a volume of 75251 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mercury Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Mercury Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mercury Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Mercury Systems from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mercury Systems from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.50.

Mercury Systems Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.88 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.68.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $248.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $223.80 million. Mercury Systems had a negative net margin of 13.80% and a negative return on equity of 3.96%. Analysts forecast that Mercury Systems, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Debora A. Plunkett sold 1,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.07, for a total transaction of $70,163.01. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,339 shares in the company, valued at $431,675.73. This trade represents a 13.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 13,600 shares of Mercury Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.25 per share, with a total value of $506,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,944,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,687,579.25. This trade represents a 0.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,099 shares of company stock worth $865,740. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercury Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRCY. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Mercury Systems by 1.1% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 45,577 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Mercury Systems by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 29,782 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 27.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 216,956 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 46,132 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Mercury Systems by 11.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 57,212 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 5,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Mercury Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $235,000. 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.