Short Interest in NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR) Increases By 18.1%

NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 940,400 shares, a growth of 18.1% from the January 15th total of 796,300 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 384,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

NETGEAR Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTGR traded down $0.96 during trading on Monday, reaching $28.46. 319,499 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 352,504. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.61. NETGEAR has a 1-year low of $10.48 and a 1-year high of $31.55. The firm has a market cap of $818.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.15 and a beta of 0.83.

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.24). NETGEAR had a net margin of 1.83% and a negative return on equity of 9.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that NETGEAR will post -1.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas H. Waechter sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.42, for a total value of $60,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 61,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,859,726.70. The trade was a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NETGEAR

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTGR. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in NETGEAR during the fourth quarter valued at about $384,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NETGEAR by 47.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 406,119 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,319,000 after purchasing an additional 131,243 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in NETGEAR in the fourth quarter worth $991,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of NETGEAR by 156.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,871 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 12,127 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of NETGEAR by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 116,525 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,248,000 after buying an additional 27,379 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on NTGR. StockNews.com upgraded NETGEAR from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of NETGEAR from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

NETGEAR Company Profile

NETGEAR, Inc provides connectivity solutions the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, Africa; and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Connected Home, and NETGEAR for Business. The Connected Home segment offers Wi-Fi routers and home Wi-Fi mesh systems, Wi-Fi hotspots, digital displays, broadband modems, Wi-Fi gateways, Wi-Fi range extenders, powerline adapters, and Wi-Fi network adapters; and provides value-added service offerings, including security and privacy, technical support, and parental controls.