Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 12,288 Shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its holdings in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,132 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,288 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in AAON were worth $7,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAON. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of AAON by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in AAON by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,796 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of AAON by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AAON by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,602 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AAON by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 29,881 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,516,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAON shares. CJS Securities upgraded shares of AAON from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on AAON from $155.00 to $116.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on AAON from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AAON from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AAON has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.50.

AAON Price Performance

Shares of AAON stock opened at $78.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 3.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.57. AAON, Inc. has a one year low of $69.52 and a one year high of $144.07.

AAON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. AAON’s payout ratio is presently 19.90%.

AAON announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

AAON Company Profile

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.