Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.92, but opened at $17.60. Daktronics shares last traded at $17.60, with a volume of 91,305 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DAKT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Daktronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Daktronics in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock.

Daktronics Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $821.25 million, a P/E ratio of 69.76, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.09). Daktronics had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 3.62%. Equities analysts anticipate that Daktronics, Inc. will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Reece A. Kurtenbach sold 8,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.75, for a total transaction of $150,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 469,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,807,381.25. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Patrick Friel sold 2,244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.17, for a total transaction of $40,773.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,201.41. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Daktronics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Duquesne Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Daktronics by 20.3% during the second quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 2,493,605 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,786,000 after purchasing an additional 420,161 shares during the last quarter. Meros Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Daktronics by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meros Investment Management LP now owns 485,811 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,777,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Daktronics by 92.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Daktronics in the third quarter valued at about $188,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Daktronics in the third quarter valued at about $171,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.69% of the company’s stock.

About Daktronics

Daktronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems and large screen video displays for sporting, commercial, and transportation applications in the United States and internationally. It operates through Commercial, Live Events, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International segments.