Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 73,651 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 824,298 shares of the company's stock after selling 73,651 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 2.57% of Blue Bird worth $31,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at about $137,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Blue Bird by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after acquiring an additional 160,248 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth about $3,817,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 78,734 shares of the company's stock worth $3,044,000 after acquiring an additional 10,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BLBD shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.21.

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Blue Bird Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.19. The company had a trading volume of 540,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 666,266. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.38.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. On average, analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $108,565.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,379,871.68. The trade was a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells school buses in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Bus and Parts. It offers Type C, Type D, and specialty buses; and alternative power options through its propane powered, gasoline powered, compressed natural gas powered, and electric powered school buses, as well as diesel engines.