Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 43,257 Shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its holdings in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) by 44.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 53,309 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 43,257 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AAON were worth $6,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AAON by 4.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,260,526 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $351,615,000 after buying an additional 150,207 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in AAON by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,977,531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $213,257,000 after acquiring an additional 12,502 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in AAON by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,866,746 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $201,310,000 after purchasing an additional 525,132 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in AAON by 9.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,729,498 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $186,509,000 after purchasing an additional 151,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AAON by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,036 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $133,110,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338 shares during the period. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AAON

In other AAON news, VP Stephen E. Wakefield sold 5,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $597,052.42. This trade represents a 54.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 18.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AAON Stock Performance

Shares of AAON opened at $81.55 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 35.93 and a beta of 1.00. AAON, Inc. has a one year low of $69.52 and a one year high of $144.07.

AAON declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AAON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. AAON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. CJS Securities raised shares of AAON from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of AAON from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of AAON from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on AAON from $155.00 to $116.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.50.

About AAON

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.