Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) Stock Price Down 7.7% After Insider Selling

Mercury Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MRCY)’s share price fell 7.7% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $93.45 and last traded at $93.45. Approximately 344,374 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 667,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.25.

Specifically, CEO William L. Ballhaus sold 24,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.36, for a total transaction of $2,688,675.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 277,009 shares in the company, valued at $30,847,722.24. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William L. Ballhaus sold 3,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.95, for a total transaction of $388,783.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 301,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,111,772.35. The trade was a 1.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In other Mercury Systems news, EVP David E. Farnsworth sold 7,347 shares of Mercury Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.36, for a total value of $818,161.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 132,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,781,258.24. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRCY. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Mercury Systems in a report on Friday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mercury Systems from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mercury Systems from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mercury Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $131.00 price target (up from $126.00) on shares of Mercury Systems in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mercury Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.10.

Mercury Systems News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mercury Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mercury Systems reported record fiscal fourth-quarter bookings of approximately $660 million, up 93.1% year over year, and backlog above $1.9 billion, up 38.4%. The 2.28 book-to-bill ratio supports stronger future revenue visibility as production ramps. Mercury Systems Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Fourth-quarter revenue increased 6.1% to about $290 million, exceeding the roughly $266 million consensus estimate. RBC raised its price target to $120, Baird to $130 and Piper Sandler to $131, citing the backlog and expectations for low-double-digit growth. Mercury Systems Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: A strategic alliance with Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) aims to automate material planning and factory operations for U.S. military programs. The partnership could improve Mercury’s manufacturing throughput and delivery timelines, although its financial impact has not yet been quantified. Mercury Systems and Palantir Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO William Ballhaus and several executives sold shares in August, with reported transactions totaling roughly $4.7 million. The filings say the sales covered tax withholding tied to vested equity awards, reducing their importance as a bearish signal; however, no insider purchases were reported. Mercury Systems Insider Filings
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted EPS was $0.37, below the $0.38 consensus and down from $0.47 a year earlier. GAAP EPS fell to $0.01 from $0.27, while adjusted EBITDA declined to $49 million from $51 million and free cash flow fell to $29 million from $34 million. The earnings-quality deterioration overshadowed the bookings and revenue beats. Mercury Systems EPS Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Mercury’s fixed-price contracts expose margins to volatility in advanced semiconductor and component costs. Rising input expenses may pressure profitability before the company can adjust pricing or supply arrangements. Mercury Systems Contract Risk

Mercury Systems Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 3.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of -188.18 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.87.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 18th. The technology company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.01). Mercury Systems had a positive return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 3.02%.The company had revenue of $289.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Mercury Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mercury Systems Inc will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mercury Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Mercury Systems during the second quarter worth about $1,146,342,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mercury Systems by 161.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,527,443 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,224,000 after purchasing an additional 943,736 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of Mercury Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,244,000. American Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mercury Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,460,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mercury Systems in the second quarter worth approximately $46,453,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.99% of the company’s stock.

Mercury Systems Company Profile

Mercury Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: MRCY) is a technology company that designs, manufactures and markets secure processing subsystems for aerospace and defense applications. The company’s products are built to address the stringent security, safety and reliability requirements of mission-critical programs, with a focus on radar, electronic warfare, intelligence and other sensor and processing functions. Mercury’s offerings encompass rugged embedded computing modules, high-performance radio frequency (RF) and microwave components, digital signal processing subsystems and secure networking solutions.

Since its origins in advanced signal processing, Mercury Systems has expanded its capabilities through a combination of internal development and targeted acquisitions.