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

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 13,328 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 512% compared to the average daily volume of 2,178 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

iRobot Trading Up 27.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IRBT traded up $2.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $12.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,331,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,373,141. iRobot has a fifty-two week low of $5.83 and a fifty-two week high of $38.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $385.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.74 and a beta of 0.80.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $193.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.41 million. iRobot had a negative return on equity of 100.79% and a negative net margin of 16.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($3.09) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that iRobot will post -5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iRobot

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of iRobot by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in iRobot by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 3,285 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in iRobot by 2.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 163,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 3,956 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in iRobot in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of iRobot by 37.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 5,709 shares in the last quarter. 77.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About iRobot

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.