JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 3,612 Shares of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR - Free Report) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,737 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.11% of AAR worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AAR by 18.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 500,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $32,693,000 after buying an additional 77,974 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in AAR by 269.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,328,000 after acquiring an additional 48,298 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in AAR by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,588,893 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $115,513,000 after acquiring an additional 48,630 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in AAR by 4.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 22,859 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of AAR by 24.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 109,543 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $7,160,000 after purchasing an additional 21,342 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at AAR

In other news, CAO Jessica A. Garascia sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $100,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 37,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,513,098.50. This represents a 3.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 5,000 shares of AAR stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total value of $354,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 341,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,194,360.80. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,793 shares of company stock worth $12,538,396. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AAR Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of AIR stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $72.25. 185,467 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 360,581. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. AAR Corp. has a 12-month low of $54.71 and a 12-month high of $76.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 258.03 and a beta of 1.61. The company's 50-day moving average price is $65.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.12.

AAR (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. AAR had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $686.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $654.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp began coverage on AAR in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised AAR from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of AAR in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $81.50.

About AAR

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. The Parts Supply segment leases and sells aircraft components and replacement parts. The Repair & Engineering segment provides airframe maintenance services, such as airframe inspection, painting, line maintenance, airframe modification, structural repair, avionics service and installation, exterior and interior refurbishment, and engineering and support services; component repair services comprising maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, engine and airframe accessories, and interior refurbishment; and landing gear overhaul services, including repair services on wheels and brakes.