Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT)

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 13,328 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 512% compared to the average daily volume of 2,178 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iRobot

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of iRobot during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in iRobot during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of iRobot by 72.6% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in shares of iRobot during the third quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 39.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,285 shares during the last quarter. 77.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on IRBT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of iRobot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

iRobot Price Performance

Shares of IRBT stock traded up $2.71 on Monday, reaching $12.62. The company had a trading volume of 4,331,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,373,141. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.65 million, a PE ratio of -2.74 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.92 and its 200 day moving average is $8.35. iRobot has a one year low of $5.83 and a one year high of $38.36.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $193.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.41 million. iRobot had a negative net margin of 16.15% and a negative return on equity of 100.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($3.09) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that iRobot will post -5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About iRobot

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.