650,753 Shares in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new position in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 650,753 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,581,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of AAON by 521.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 230 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in AAON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in AAON by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 325 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AAON during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of AAON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AAON Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of AAON stock opened at $82.72 on Thursday. AAON, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.52 and a 52-week high of $144.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.43. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44 and a beta of 1.00.

AAON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is an increase from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. AAON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.90%.

AAON announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AAON news, Director David Raymond Stewart bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.86 per share, for a total transaction of $80,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,580. This trade represents a 50.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

About AAON

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.