8x8 Inc (NASDAQ:EGHT) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest surged 25.2% in March to 3,777,663 shares (about 2.8% of shares outstanding), with a days-to-cover ratio of 4.1 based on average daily volume.
• Notable insider selling: insider Hunter Middleton sold 85,044 shares on Feb. 4 at about $2.50, reducing his position by 11.52%; insiders now own 2.01% of the stock.
• Mixed market view: the consensus analyst rating is "Hold" with a $2.29 price target, while institutional ownership is very high at 93.99% and market cap is roughly $264 million.

8x8 Inc (NASDAQ:EGHT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,777,663 shares, an increase of 25.2% from the March 15th total of 3,017,174 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 931,207 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

8X8 Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of EGHT stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1.90. 415,080 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,653,264. 8X8 has a fifty-two week low of $1.52 and a fifty-two week high of $2.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market cap of $264.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -94.70, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hunter Middleton sold 85,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total transaction of $212,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 652,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,632,357.50. This represents a 11.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EGHT. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in shares of 8X8 by 505.2% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 79,147 shares of the company's stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 66,070 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 8X8 by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,228,294 shares of the company's stock worth $6,329,000 after buying an additional 84,176 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of 8X8 in the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 8X8 by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,516,232 shares of the company's stock worth $4,932,000 after buying an additional 628,024 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of 8X8 by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 203,407 shares of the company's stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 19,813 shares during the period. 93.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGHT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of 8X8 in a report on Monday, December 29th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on 8X8 from $3.50 to $2.75 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research cut 8X8 from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $2.29.

About 8X8

8x8, Inc NASDAQ: EGHT is a global provider of cloud-based enterprise communications, collaboration and contact centre solutions. The company's unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform integrates voice, video, chat, SMS and contact-centre capabilities into a single, software-driven solution. By combining real-time analytics, team messaging and interoperability with third-party business applications, 8x8 aims to simplify communications infrastructure for organisations of all sizes.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Campbell, California, 8x8 pioneered hosted VoIP services for businesses in the late 1990s and went public on the NASDAQ in 1997.

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