MQS Management LLC Has $408,000 Stock Holdings in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)

MQS Management LLC decreased its stake in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,817 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in AAR were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in AAR by 889.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 391,076 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $23,414,000 after buying an additional 351,540 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AAR in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,511,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AAR in the first quarter valued at about $6,073,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in AAR by 730.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 97,552 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,840,000 after buying an additional 85,810 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in AAR by 902.9% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 57,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,453,000 after buying an additional 51,928 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.74% of the company’s stock.

AAR Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AIR traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $66.35. 304,877 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,076. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.03 and a beta of 1.54. AAR Corp. has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $76.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.01.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $656.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $660.05 million. AAR had a return on equity of 10.16% and a net margin of 2.00%. AAR’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AAR Corp. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on AAR from $86.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Benchmark raised their price target on AAR from $65.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on AAR from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AAR has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 15,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.09, for a total transaction of $1,116,463.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,803 shares in the company, valued at $3,630,872.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other AAR news, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 15,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.09, for a total value of $1,116,463.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,803 shares in the company, valued at $3,630,872.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Eric Pachapa sold 5,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $363,386.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,775,064.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,023 shares of company stock worth $2,528,708. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About AAR

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. It operates through Aviation Services and Expeditionary Services segments. The Aviation Services segment engages in lease and sale of new, overhauled and repaired engine, and airframe parts and components, as well as aircrafts; and offers customized flight hour component inventory and repair, warranty claim management, and outsourcing programs for engine and airframe parts and components.