Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM) Shares Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM) were down 2.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $65.84 and last traded at $68.01. Approximately 1,215,103 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 1,701,345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SYM shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Symbotic in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Symbotic from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Symbotic from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Symbotic from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Symbotic from $57.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.57.

Symbotic Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.86. The stock has a market cap of $40.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -453.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 2.13.

Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.11). Symbotic had a negative return on equity of 3.89% and a negative net margin of 0.75%.The firm had revenue of $618.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $604.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Symbotic Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider William M. Boyd III sold 15,000 shares of Symbotic stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total transaction of $1,035,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Merline Saintil sold 9,000 shares of Symbotic stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total value of $762,480.00. Following the sale, the director owned 68,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,795,949.36. This trade represents a 11.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,079,963 shares of company stock worth $378,432,207 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Symbotic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Symbotic by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 445,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,308,000 after purchasing an additional 52,205 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Symbotic during the second quarter worth $255,000. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Symbotic during the second quarter valued at $361,000. Barton Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Symbotic in the third quarter valued at $1,640,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Symbotic in the 2nd quarter worth about $861,000.

Symbotic Company Profile

Symbotic Inc (NASDAQ: SYM) is a provider of advanced warehouse automation and robotics systems designed to improve throughput, space utilization and labor productivity in distribution centers and fulfillment operations. The company develops integrated hardware and software solutions that automate the storage, retrieval, sorting and palletizing of goods, positioning itself as a systems integrator for material handling challenges faced by large-scale retailers, wholesalers and third-party logistics providers.

Products and services typically include autonomous robotic vehicles and shuttle systems, automated storage-and-retrieval equipment, robotic picking and palletizing cells, conveyors and sortation, together with control and management software that coordinates fleet operations and inventory flow.