6,560 Acuity, Inc. $AYI Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al decreased its holdings in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,900 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 6,560 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Acuity were worth $3,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Acuity by 8.8% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 42,944 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $16,175,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its holdings in Acuity by 63.7% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 20,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,597,000 after buying an additional 7,846 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the second quarter worth about $1,450,000. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. lifted its position in shares of Acuity by 176.5% in the first quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 44,803 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $12,555,000 after buying an additional 28,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity in the second quarter worth about $9,736,000. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Acuity Price Performance

NYSE AYI opened at $329.32 on Tuesday. Acuity, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.04 and a twelve month high of $380.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $314.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $309.93.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.57 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 11.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.20 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Acuity, Inc. will post 20.04 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is 4.68%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other news, CFO Karen J. Holcom sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.62, for a total value of $659,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,880.14. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Neil Ashe sold 22,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.33, for a total transaction of $7,000,299.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 86,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,373,520.46. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,047 shares of company stock worth $11,537,354 over the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AYI. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Acuity from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Acuity from $360.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Acuity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Acuity from $440.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, William Blair cut Acuity from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $374.20.

Acuity Profile

Acuity (NYSE: AYI), formerly known as Acuity Brands, is a technology company focused on improving how people experience and manage indoor and outdoor spaces. Its businesses develop lighting, lighting controls, building-management systems and related solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial and residential applications.

The company’s offerings include LED lighting fixtures, connected lighting systems, sensors, controls, building automation technologies and location-aware software.