Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON - Free Report) by 38.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,272 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 97,527 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of AAON worth $16,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in AAON by 39.1% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 288,581 shares of the construction company's stock worth $31,121,000 after buying an additional 81,111 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AAON by 258.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 330,397 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,014,000 after acquiring an additional 238,308 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of AAON by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,534 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of AAON during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AAON in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AAON Price Performance

Shares of AAON traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $121.42. 240,465 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 584,100. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $126.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.29. AAON, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.38 and a 12-month high of $144.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 3.06. The company has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.49 and a beta of 0.83.

AAON (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The construction company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $327.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.80 million. AAON had a net margin of 15.78% and a return on equity of 24.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AAON, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

AAON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. AAON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAON. StockNews.com upgraded AAON from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on AAON from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Baird R W raised shares of AAON from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sidoti downgraded shares of AAON from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of AAON from $102.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.00.

Insider Transactions at AAON

In other AAON news, VP Casey Kidwell sold 1,421 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total value of $192,033.94. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,953 shares in the company, valued at $669,348.42. The trade was a 22.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Stephen E. Wakefield sold 5,362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.99, for a total transaction of $702,368.38. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $597,052.42. This represents a 54.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,329 shares of company stock worth $7,663,726 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.55% of the company's stock.

AAON Profile

AAON, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and selling air conditioning and heating equipment in the United States and Canada. The company operates through three segments: AAON Oklahoma, AAON Coil Products, and BASX. It offers rooftop units, data center cooling solutions, cleanroom systems, chillers, packaged outdoor mechanical rooms, air handling units, makeup air units, energy recovery units, condensing units, geothermal/water-source heat pumps, coils, and controls.