Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) Shares Up 6% After Analyst Upgrade

Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY) rose 6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Guggenheim upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $83.57 and last traded at $85.8710. 217,721 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 675,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.03.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Mercury Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Mercury Systems from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Mercury Systems in a report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Mercury Systems from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Mercury Systems from $106.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Two research analysts have 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercury Systems news, CEO William Ballhaus sold 49,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total transaction of $4,373,919.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 361,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,238,340.20. This trade represents a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stuart Kupinsky sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.23, for a total value of $95,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,366,400.96. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 450,186 shares of company stock valued at $41,770,650 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercury Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRCY. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Mercury Systems by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,984 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Mercury Systems by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 653 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercury Systems by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury Systems by 4.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,045 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Mercury Systems by 250.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 463 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.99% of the company’s stock.

Mercury Systems Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -174.50 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.83.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 18th. The technology company reported $0.37 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 firm 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 company earned $0.47 EPS. Mercury Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mercury Systems Inc will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Mercury Systems

Mercury Systems, Inc is a technology company that develops and manufactures secure, high-performance computing and sensor-processing solutions for the aerospace and defense industries. Its products are designed for use in mission-critical applications where ruggedness, rapid data processing, cybersecurity and long operational life are essential.

The company’s offerings include embedded computing systems, digital signal processing technologies, radio-frequency and microwave components, avionics systems, sensor-processing solutions, electronic warfare technology and secure communications products.