Next Century Growth Investors LLC Has $25.50 Million Holdings in Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI)

Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its stake in Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 991,752 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 140,246 shares during the period. Universal Technical Institute accounts for about 1.9% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s holdings in Universal Technical Institute were worth $25,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Universal Technical Institute by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 856,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,920,000 after buying an additional 29,461 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Universal Technical Institute by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 952,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after acquiring an additional 85,417 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Universal Technical Institute by 362.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 376,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,691,000 after acquiring an additional 295,408 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Universal Technical Institute by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 71,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 19,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pier Capital LLC boosted its position in Universal Technical Institute by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 566,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,569,000 after purchasing an additional 13,281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UTI. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Universal Technical Institute from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Universal Technical Institute in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Barrington Research upped their target price on shares of Universal Technical Institute from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on Universal Technical Institute from $22.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their price objective on Universal Technical Institute from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.17.

Universal Technical Institute Price Performance

Shares of Universal Technical Institute stock opened at $26.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.48. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.66 and a twelve month high of $30.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.94.

Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.22. Universal Technical Institute had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 21.25%. Analysts forecast that Universal Technical Institute, Inc. will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Universal Technical Institute

In related news, Director George W. Brochick sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $220,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $963,360.03. This trade represents a 18.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sherrell Smith sold 39,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.85, for a total transaction of $1,098,571.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 177,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,954,849.20. The trade was a 18.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,427 shares of company stock valued at $2,575,729. Company insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Technical Institute

Universal Technical Institute, Inc provides transportation, skilled trades, and healthcare education programs in the United States. The company operates in two segments, UTI and Concorde. It offers certificate, diploma, or degree programs under various brands, such as Universal Technical Institute, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute, NASCAR Technical Institute, and MIAT College of Technology.