LPL Financial LLC Has $908,000 Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 39.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,513 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,600 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 4,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $262,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at $315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $108,565.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $33.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.38. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLBD. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

Blue Bird Company Profile

Blue Bird Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells school buses in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Bus and Parts. It offers Type C, Type D, and specialty buses; and alternative power options through its propane powered, gasoline powered, compressed natural gas powered, and electric powered school buses, as well as diesel engines.