Zebra Technologies Co. (NASDAQ:ZBRA) Short Interest Up 35.3% in February

Zebra Technologies Co. (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 879,100 shares, a growth of 35.3% from the January 31st total of 649,800 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 461,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity at Zebra Technologies

In related news, Director Anders Gustafsson bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $311.00 per share, with a total value of $155,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 202,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,876,736. The trade was a 0.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Zebra Technologies during the third quarter worth $2,113,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Zebra Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,752,000. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI acquired a new position in shares of Zebra Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $643,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zebra Technologies by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,950,000 after buying an additional 3,328 shares during the period. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Zebra Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $695,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ZBRA. Citigroup started coverage on Zebra Technologies in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $430.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Zebra Technologies from $432.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Zebra Technologies from $445.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Zebra Technologies from $409.00 to $379.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Zebra Technologies from $430.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Zebra Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.42.

Zebra Technologies Trading Up 2.0 %

ZBRA opened at $304.00 on Thursday. Zebra Technologies has a 12-month low of $266.75 and a 12-month high of $427.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $368.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $372.30.

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Zebra Technologies had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 18.34%. As a group, research analysts expect that Zebra Technologies will post 13.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zebra Technologies Company Profile

Zebra Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Intelligence & Tracking, and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility. The company designs, manufactures, and sells printers that produce labels, wristbands, tickets, receipts, and plastic cards; dye-sublimination thermal card printers that produce images, which are used for personal identification, access control, and financial transactions; radio frequency identification device (RFID) printers that encode data into passive RFID transponders; accessories and options for printers, including carrying cases, vehicle mounts, and battery chargers; stock and customized thermal labels, receipts, ribbons, plastic cards, and RFID tags for printers; and temperature-monitoring labels primarily used in vaccine distribution.