Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 841 Shares of Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,202 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 841 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned 0.33% of Clearfield worth $1,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Clearfield by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,297 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Clearfield by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,971 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,428,000 after acquiring an additional 54,670 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Clearfield by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,062 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Clearfield during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Clearfield during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Clearfield Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of CLFD opened at $33.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 9.43 and a quick ratio of 6.69. Clearfield, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $44.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.44. The firm has a market cap of $470.53 million, a P/E ratio of -52.86 and a beta of 1.28.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 5.41% and a negative return on equity of 3.29%. On average, equities analysts expect that Clearfield, Inc. will post -0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLFD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clearfield from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Clearfield in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

Insider Activity at Clearfield

In other news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.00 per share, with a total value of $155,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,270,676. This represents a 0.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO John P. Hill sold 16,539 shares of Clearfield stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.26, for a total transaction of $550,087.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 189,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,608.36. The trade was a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Clearfield

Clearfield, Inc manufactures and sells various fiber connectivity products in the United States and internationally. The company offers FieldSmart, a series of panels, cabinets, wall boxes, and other enclosures; WaveSmart, an optical components integrated for signal coupling, splitting, termination, multiplexing, demultiplexing, and attenuation for integration within its fiber management platform; and active cabinet products.