iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,180,000 shares, a growth of 31.8% from the February 13th total of 3,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 18.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IRBT. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of iRobot during the 3rd quarter valued at $117,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of iRobot by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,285 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of iRobot during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of iRobot by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 5,709 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of iRobot during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,556,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of iRobot from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a report on Thursday, March 13th.

iRobot Stock Performance

Shares of iRobot stock traded down $0.29 on Tuesday, hitting $3.49. 1,296,991 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,613,748. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.74 million, a PE ratio of -0.76 and a beta of 0.87. iRobot has a 1 year low of $2.99 and a 1 year high of $14.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.45.

iRobot Company Profile

iRobot Corporation designs, builds, and sells robots and home innovation products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, and internationally. The company offers floor care products, including Roomba floor vacuuming robots; Roomba accessories and consumables, such as the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal, replacement dirt disposal bags for the Clean Base, filters, brushes, and batteries; Braava family of automatic floor mopping robots; and Braava accessories and consumables, which include cleaning solution, washable and disposable mopping pads, replacement tanks, and batteries, as well as subscription services.