Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Shares of Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $52.25 and last traded at $49.19, with a volume of 416651 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Mercury Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mercury Systems from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mercury Systems from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Mercury Systems from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Mercury Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mercury Systems currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Mercury Systems Stock Down 4.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.62 and a quick ratio of 2.59. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.07 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.44 and a 200 day moving average of $38.54.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.04). Mercury Systems had a negative net margin of 10.23% and a negative return on equity of 2.03%. Research analysts anticipate that Mercury Systems, Inc. will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Mercury Systems

In related news, COO Charles Roger Iv Wells sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $59,247.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 113,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,403,334.40. This represents a 1.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Mercury Systems by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,072,817 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $87,058,000 after buying an additional 743,552 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercury Systems in the 4th quarter worth $16,601,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercury Systems by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060,131 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,526,000 after purchasing an additional 294,747 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Mercury Systems by 471.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 175,562 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,496,000 after purchasing an additional 144,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Mercury Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $4,258,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.99% of the company's stock.

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.