Mercury Systems and Flushing Financial Stock See Action From Activist Investors -- Barrons.com

Dow Jones2023-07-15

These disclosures are from 13Ds filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 13Ds are filed within 10 days of an entity's attaining more than 5% in any class of a company's securities. Subsequent changes in holdings or intentions must be reported in amended filings. This material is from July 6 through July 12, 2023. Source: VerityData

Activist Holdings

Mercury Systems $(MRCY)$ Jana Partners boosted its stake in the government and aerospace contractor to 4,655,249 shares. Jana purchased 3,303,841 Mercury Systems shares from June 23 through July 5 at prices ranging from $30.99 to $35.28 apiece, bringing its stake in the company to 8%. On July 6, Mercury Systems and Jana reached a voting agreement in which Jana managing partner Scott Ostfeld was appointed to Mercury's board. In return, Jana will vote its Mercury shares in favor of the firm's slate of directors.

The agreement also calls for Jana to support any amendments to Mercury Systems' stock incentive plan, unless either Institutional Shareholder Services or Glass Lewis & Co. "recommends otherwise with respect to such approval." In that case, Jana may vote in concert with ISS or Glass Lewis.

Increases in Holdings

Flushing Financial $(FFIC)$ Gamco Investors (GBL) lifted its position in the holding company for Uniondale, N.Y.--based Flushing Bank to 2,033,363 shares. Gamco purchased a net of 119,099 Flushing Financial shares at prices ranging from $9.33 to $15.05 apiece from May 10 through July 7. Gamco now holds a 6.9% interest in Flushing Financial. For the year to date, shares have slid about 36%.

Decreases in Holdings

Quotient Technology $(QUOT)$ Engaged Capital cut its position in the digital-advertising services company to 4,905,332 shares. Engaged Capital sold 3,201,718 Quotient Technology shares from June 13 through July 7 at per-share prices ranging from $3.80 to $3.90. Engaged Capital now owns 4.97% of Quotient's outstanding stock, below the 5% threshold that requires disclosure of any further Quotient stock sales.

In late June, Quotient agreed to be acquired by Neptune Retail Solutions for $4 per share in cash, valuing Quotient at approximately $430 million. At the time of the deal's announcement, Engaged Capital entered into a cooperative agreement with Quotient to vote its shares in favor of the deal. Quotient stock has gained about 12% this year.

Seadrill $(SDRL)$ Elliott Management sold 356,141 shares of the offshore drilling-rig operator, bringing its stake down to 7,057,258 Seadrill shares. Elliott sold Seadrill shares from May 15 through May 22 at prices ranging from $35.45 to $38.00 each. Elliott now holds 8.8% of Seadrill's outstanding stock.

Elliott also disclosed that its Elliott Funds affiliate entered into cash-settled swap agreements with respect to 5,444,919 Seadrill shares. The swaps only provide Elliott the equivalent of the "economic results of ownership" in Seadrill's stock, not the actual shares.

Shares have gained about 40% so far in 2023, and are up 80% in the past 12 months.

Email: editors@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2023 18:30 ET (22:30 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

We need your insight to fill this gap
Leave a comment