Stock Traders Buy High Volume of iRobot Call Options (NASDAQ:IRBT)

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 7,306 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 216% compared to the average daily volume of 2,313 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

iRobot Price Performance

Shares of IRBT stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $7.29. 1,095,825 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,805,870. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $7.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.86. iRobot has a fifty-two week low of $5.83 and a fifty-two week high of $42.14. The firm has a market cap of $222.78 million, a P/E ratio of -1.59 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($3.09) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that iRobot will post -5.74 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iRobot

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of iRobot in the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in iRobot by 101.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 35,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 18,133 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of iRobot by 130.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,659 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of iRobot during the first quarter worth about $4,083,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of iRobot by 185.4% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

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.