Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) Short Interest Up 11.5% in October

Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,130,000 shares, a growth of 11.5% from the October 15th total of 14,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days. Currently, 10.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Samsara Price Performance

NYSE:IOT traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,010,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,014,720. Samsara has a fifty-two week low of $8.86 and a fifty-two week high of $32.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.98 and its 200-day moving average is $24.95. The firm has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Samsara (NYSE:IOT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $219.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.69 million. Samsara had a negative net margin of 30.77% and a negative return on equity of 20.84%. As a group, analysts forecast that Samsara will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Bicket sold 47,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $1,135,111.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,396,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,104,752.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Samsara news, CEO Sanjit Biswas sold 45,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total value of $1,063,630.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 629,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,572,623.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Bicket sold 47,895 shares of Samsara stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $1,135,111.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,396,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,104,752.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,503,171 shares of company stock valued at $66,934,636 over the last three months. 66.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IOT. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Samsara by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Samsara by 67.4% during the third quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Samsara by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Samsara by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 46,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Samsara by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 65,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. 52.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on IOT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Samsara from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. FBN Securities started coverage on shares of Samsara in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Samsara in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Samsara in a report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Samsara from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Samsara Company Profile

Samsara Inc provides solutions that connect physical operations data to its Connected Operations Cloud in the United States and internationally. The company's Connected Operations Cloud includes Data Platform, which ingests, aggregates, and enriches data from its IoT devices and has embedded capabilities for AI, workflows and analytics, alerts, API connections, and data security and privacy; and applications for video-based safety, vehicle telematics, apps and driver workflows, equipment monitoring, and site visibility.