comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR) Short Interest Up 79.3% in August

Key Points

• Short interest rose 79.3% in August to 19,137 shares, representing 0.1% of comScore’s outstanding stock and 0.8 days of average trading volume.
• Company insiders bought shares, including CEO Matthew F. McLaughlin’s 20,000-share purchase and Director David Kline’s 7,000-share purchase. Institutional investors own 42.15% of the company.
• comScore shares recently traded at $5.16, near the lower end of their 12-month range of $4.60 to $10.18. Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with one Buy and one Sell rating producing a consensus Hold rating.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 19,137 shares, an increase of 79.3% from the July 30th total of 10,672 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 24,096 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at comScore

In related news, CEO Matthew F. Mclaughlin acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.26 per share, for a total transaction of $105,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 165,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $871,787.14. The trade was a 13.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Kline acquired 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.29 per share, with a total value of $37,030.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,030. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of comScore

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerberus Capital Management L.P. grew its position in comScore by 2,997.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerberus Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,396,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,077,000 after acquiring an additional 3,286,825 shares during the last quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of comScore by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC now owns 470,000 shares of the company's stock worth $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Beartown Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of comScore in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $820,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of comScore by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 39,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of comScore during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 42.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of comScore in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

comScore Price Performance

SCOR traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.16. 123,892 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,963. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.09. comScore has a twelve month low of $4.60 and a twelve month high of $10.18. The company has a market cap of $78.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.10.

About comScore

comScore, Inc is a global media measurement and analytics company that specializes in delivering insights into consumer behavior across digital, television and theatrical platforms. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia, comScore provides data-driven solutions designed to help media companies, advertisers and agencies understand audience engagement and optimize marketing strategies. The company's analytics offerings enable clients to measure the reach and impact of online content, mobile applications, streaming video, and traditional broadcast media with a unified data view.

The company's product suite includes Digital Analytix for website and app analytics, Media Metrix for audience measurement, Advertising Analytics for campaign performance tracking, Video Metrix for streaming and online video insights, and theatrical measurement services for box office analytics.

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