J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 3,483 Shares of Acuity, Inc. $AYI

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG trimmed its position in shares of Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 72,964 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,483 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Acuity were worth $21,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AYI. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the first quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Acuity during the 1st quarter worth approximately $379,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Acuity by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,514,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Acuity by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 542,715 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $142,907,000 after acquiring an additional 60,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Acuity by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Acuity Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Acuity stock opened at $356.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $327.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.76. Acuity, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.81 and a 1 year high of $375.67.

Acuity Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s payout ratio is 5.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Acuity in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Acuity from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.17.

Acuity Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.