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

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 13,328 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 512% compared to the average volume of 2,178 call options.

iRobot Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of IRBT stock opened at $12.22 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $373.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.66 and a beta of 0.80. iRobot has a 52-week low of $5.83 and a 52-week high of $38.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.40.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $193.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.41 million. iRobot had a negative return on equity of 100.79% and a negative net margin of 16.15%. iRobot’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($3.09) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that iRobot will post -5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iRobot

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in iRobot by 72.6% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,285 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of iRobot by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 163,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in iRobot in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 5,709 shares during the period. 77.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.