First Eagle Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 401,426 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 6,300 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Astronics were worth $6,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Astronics by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 924,070 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $18,001,000 after purchasing an additional 58,356 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Astronics by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 691,522 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $13,474,000 after purchasing an additional 13,469 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Astronics by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 267,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,211,000 after purchasing an additional 22,500 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Astronics by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 108,231 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 15,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skylands Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Astronics in the 4th quarter worth $1,622,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ATRO shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Astronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

Astronics Stock Performance

Astronics stock opened at $24.77 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.49. Astronics Co. has a twelve month low of $14.13 and a twelve month high of $25.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $873.44 million, a PE ratio of -130.36 and a beta of 1.74.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $208.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.91 million. Astronics had a negative net margin of 0.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Astronics Co. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Astronics

In related news, Director Robert S. Keane sold 77,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $1,892,780.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,794.30. This represents a 92.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Astronics

Astronics Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products for the aerospace, defense, and electronics industries in the United States, rest of North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Test Systems. The Aerospace segment offers lighting and safety systems, electrical power generation systems, distribution and seat motions systems, aircraft structures, avionics products, system certification, and other products.