Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 153 Shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its position in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,088 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AAON were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in AAON in the 4th quarter valued at $76,581,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AAON in the fourth quarter valued at $73,313,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AAON by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,032,497 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $239,184,000 after buying an additional 274,119 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 238,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in AAON during the 4th quarter worth about $19,750,000. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AAON Trading Down 5.5 %

NASDAQ AAON opened at $77.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. AAON, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.98 and a 12 month high of $144.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.78.

AAON declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AAON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. AAON’s payout ratio is currently 19.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AAON

In other news, Director David Raymond Stewart acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.86 per share, for a total transaction of $80,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,580. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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