Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT - Free Report) by 75.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,648 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 62,135 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Daktronics were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Daktronics by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,338,484 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $23,291,000 after acquiring an additional 41,076 shares during the period. Progeny 3 Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Daktronics by 140.0% in the second quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 1,794,908 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,156 shares during the last quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in Daktronics in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,338,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Daktronics by 150.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Daktronics by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 869,837 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 187,486 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DAKT shares. Singular Research raised shares of Daktronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Daktronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Daktronics Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ DAKT traded up $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.02. 358,395 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 495,956. Daktronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.20 and a 12-month high of $15.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $696.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 187.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $13.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.20.

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $226.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.84 million. Daktronics had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 19.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Daktronics, Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Matthew John Kurtenbach sold 15,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.28, for a total transaction of $204,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,200. This represents a 86.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley T. Wiemann sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.89, for a total value of $322,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,101,398.94. This trade represents a 22.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Daktronics

Daktronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems and large screen video displays for sporting, commercial, and transportation applications in the United States and internationally. It operates through Commercial, Live Events, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International segments.