Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTG) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell by 14.2% to 1,223,032 shares as of April 15, equal to 1.3% of shares short and a short-interest ratio of 5.1 days.
• Acacia beat earnings last quarter, reporting EPS of $0.03 versus a consensus of -$0.14 and revenue of $50.13M versus $38M, with the stock trading around $5.11 and a market cap of about $493M.
• Institutional ownership is high at 86.69% with major stake increases from firms like State Street and Levin Capital, while analyst coverage is mixed but carries an average price target of $6.00 ("Moderate Buy").

Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTG - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,223,032 shares, a drop of 14.2% from the March 31st total of 1,425,585 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 240,808 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Acacia Research Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:ACTG traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5.11. 77,691 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 284,392. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.09. The company has a current ratio of 9.18, a quick ratio of 8.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Acacia Research has a fifty-two week low of $2.99 and a fifty-two week high of $5.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $492.99 million, a P/E ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.44.

Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The business services provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.17. Acacia Research had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 4.11%. The business had revenue of $50.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.00 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ACTG shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Acacia Research from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Acacia Research from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Acacia Research from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $6.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACTG. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in Acacia Research by 195.0% during the 3rd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 889,547 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 587,973 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Acacia Research by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,145,981 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,766,000 after purchasing an additional 355,916 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Acacia Research by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 441,886 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 174,752 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Acacia Research during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $614,000. Finally, Peapod Lane Capital LLC raised its holdings in Acacia Research by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 845,954 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,216,000 after purchasing an additional 119,783 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.69% of the company's stock.

About Acacia Research

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.

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