Wall Street Zen Downgrades Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) to Hold

Key Points

• Acacia Research's stock rating was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from "buy" to "hold," reflecting a change in analysts' outlook on the company's performance.
• The company recently reported earnings of $0.33 per share, surpassing expectations significantly, despite a negative net margin of 2.60%.
• Institutional investors have recently increased their holdings in Acacia Research, with Peapod Lane Capital LLC alone boosting its stake by 65% in the second quarter.

Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Acacia Research Price Performance

NASDAQ ACTG remained flat at $3.34 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 75,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 225,042. The firm has a market cap of $322.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.66 and a beta of 0.61. Acacia Research has a 1-year low of $2.70 and a 1-year high of $5.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.66. The company has a current ratio of 8.80, a quick ratio of 8.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acacia Research

In other news, Director Isaac T. Kohlberg sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.84, for a total transaction of $61,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 85,446 shares in the company, valued at $328,112.64. This trade represents a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.65% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Acacia Research

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Acacia Research by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,673 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,985,000 after purchasing an additional 220,579 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Acacia Research by 20.8% in the second quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,398,559 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,007,000 after buying an additional 240,535 shares during the period. Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Acacia Research by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 1,002,922 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,353,000 after buying an additional 10,257 shares during the period. Peapod Lane Capital LLC boosted its position in Acacia Research by 65.0% during the second quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 718,192 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,571,000 after acquiring an additional 282,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Acacia Research by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,075 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 29,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.69% of the company's stock.

About Acacia Research

Acacia is a publicly traded Nasdaq: ACTG company that is focused on acquiring and operating businesses across the industrial, energy and technology sectors where it believes it can leverage its expertise, significant capital base, and deep industry relationships to drive value. Acacia evaluates opportunities based on the attractiveness of the underlying cash flows, without regard to a specific investment horizon.