Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTG) Short Interest Update

Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTG) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,425,543 shares, a decline of 22.9% from the February 26th total of 1,849,789 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 600,688 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Acacia Research Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACTG opened at $4.84 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 9.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Acacia Research has a fifty-two week low of $2.70 and a fifty-two week high of $5.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.82. The firm has a market cap of $466.91 million, a PE ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The business services provider reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.17. Acacia Research had a return on equity of 4.11% and a net margin of 7.60%.The company had revenue of $50.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.00 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACTG. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Acacia Research during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Acacia Research in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Acacia Research during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Sather Financial Group Inc bought a new position in shares of Acacia Research during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in Acacia Research in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 86.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of Acacia Research from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Acacia Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Acacia Research from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.00.

Acacia Research Company Profile

Acacia Research Corporation is a publicly traded patent licensing company based in New York City. The firm specializes in acquiring patented technologies through a network of wholly owned subsidiaries and seeking licensing agreements or settlements with companies that utilize those technologies. Since its founding in 1993, Acacia has built a business model centered on identifying innovative inventions and monetizing them through patent enforcement and strategic partnerships.

The company’s activities span a broad range of technology sectors, including life sciences, medical devices, software, telecommunications and consumer electronics.