Acacia Research Co. (NASDAQ:ACTG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Acacia Research Co. (NASDAQ:ACTG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,250,000 shares, a decrease of 7.4% from the December 15th total of 1,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 259,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Isaac T. Kohlberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.57, for a total transaction of $68,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 69,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $316,582.18. This represents a 17.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in Acacia Research by 7.4% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 37,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Acacia Research by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 4,327 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Acacia Research by 36.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 4,638 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Acacia Research by 0.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,510,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,566,000 after buying an additional 6,143 shares during the period. Finally, Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in Acacia Research during the third quarter valued at $56,000. 86.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Acacia Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Acacia Research Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:ACTG opened at $4.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 0.52. Acacia Research has a 1-year low of $3.68 and a 1-year high of $5.74. The company has a current ratio of 16.39, a quick ratio of 15.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.70.

About Acacia Research

Acacia is a publicly traded (Nasdaq: ACTG) company that is focused on acquiring and operating businesses across the industrial, energy and technology sectors where it believes it can leverage its expertise, significant capital base, and deep industry relationships to drive value. Acacia evaluates opportunities based on the attractiveness of the underlying cash flows, without regard to a specific investment horizon.