Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT) Short Interest Up 31.3% in August

Key Points

• Wipro Limited experienced a significant increase in short interest, rising by 31.3% in August to a total of 118,220,000 shares, compared to 90,050,000 shares at the end of July.
• The company's shares traded at $2.77, with a market cap of $28.95 billion, and have shown a 1-year low of $2.62 and a 1-year high of $3.79.
• Recently, Wipro announced a dividend of $0.057 per share with a significant dividend yield of 409.9%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 62.50%.

Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 118,220,000 shares, an increase of 31.3% from the July 31st total of 90,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,640,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 17.8 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,640,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 17.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised Wipro from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce".

Wipro Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WIT traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $2.77. The stock had a trading volume of 3,783,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,116,954. Wipro has a 12 month low of $2.62 and a 12 month high of $3.79. The company has a market capitalization of $29.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's fifty day moving average is $2.82 and its 200 day moving average is $2.92.

Wipro (NYSE:WIT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The information technology services provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.04. Wipro had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 15.07%.The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.23 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Wipro will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wipro Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.057 per share. This represents a yield of 409.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 28th. Wipro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Wipro by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,679,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $9,484,000 after buying an additional 1,697,118 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Wipro by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 16,370 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 8,808 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Wipro by 143.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 184,500 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 108,600 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Wipro by 105.9% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 204,612 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 105,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Wipro by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,692 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 5,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.36% of the company's stock.

About Wipro

Wipro Limited operates as an information technology (IT), consulting, and business process services company worldwide. It operates through IT Services and IT Products segments. The IT Services segment offers IT and IT-enabled services, including digital strategy advisory, customer-centric design, technology and IT consulting, custom application design, development, re-engineering and maintenance, systems integration, package implementation, cloud and infrastructure, business process, cloud, mobility and analytics, research and development, and hardware and software design services to enterprises.