Howe & Rusling Inc. Sells 3,003 Shares of Transcat, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRNS)

Howe & Rusling Inc. reduced its stake in Transcat, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRNS) by 43.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,851 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,003 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Transcat were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Transcat by 686.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 354 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Transcat by 8.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,611 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Transcat by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,710 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,670,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Transcat by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,348 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Transcat by 4.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,941 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. 98.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TRNS. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on Transcat from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Transcat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Transcat in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. HC Wainwright reduced their target price on shares of Transcat from $126.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Transcat from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Transcat currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.50.

Transcat Stock Up 1.5 %

Transcat stock opened at $72.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Transcat, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.56 and a 1-year high of $147.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.33. The company has a market cap of $678.91 million, a P/E ratio of 39.42 and a beta of 0.66.

Transcat (NASDAQ:TRNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.07. Transcat had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Transcat, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Craig D. Cairns bought 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.02 per share, with a total value of $92,424.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,108.20. This represents a 169.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

About Transcat

Transcat, Inc provides calibration and laboratory instrument services in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Service and Distribution. The Service segment offers calibration, repair, inspection, analytical qualification, preventative maintenance, consulting, and other related services.