iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) Short Interest Up 11.7% in December

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,340,000 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the December 15th total of 2,990,000 shares. Currently, 11.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iRobot

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in iRobot by 2,712.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 400,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,480,000 after buying an additional 386,189 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in iRobot by 131.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 79,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 337,057 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in iRobot in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,556,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 185.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 196,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 127,602 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 234.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 73,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 51,575 shares during the period. 77.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on IRBT shares. StockNews.com raised iRobot from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

iRobot Trading Up 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IRBT traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $8.85. 3,325,690 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,453,871. iRobot has a 52 week low of $5.83 and a 52 week high of $28.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.43.

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

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.