Short Interest in iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) Grows By 31.8%

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,180,000 shares, an increase 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 presently 2.8 days. Currently, 18.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRBT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of iRobot from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

iRobot Stock Performance

IRBT stock opened at $3.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.67 million, a PE ratio of -0.75 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.90. iRobot has a 12-month low of $2.99 and a 12-month high of $14.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in iRobot by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,116,000 after buying an additional 14,075 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of iRobot by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,003,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,777,000 after acquiring an additional 295,997 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 840,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,517,000 after acquiring an additional 120,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of iRobot by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 701,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,435,000 after purchasing an additional 24,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in iRobot by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 655,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,083,000 after purchasing an additional 160,343 shares during the period. 77.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.