Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT)

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 10,706 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 65% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,487 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iRobot

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRBT. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of iRobot by 317.2% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 462,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 351,925 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of iRobot by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,003,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,777,000 after purchasing an additional 295,997 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in iRobot by 333.3% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 305,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 235,133 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its position in iRobot by 162.6% during the 1st quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 296,205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 183,401 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in iRobot by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 575,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,458,000 after acquiring an additional 177,876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on IRBT. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen cut iRobot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 29th.

iRobot Price Performance

Shares of IRBT opened at $3.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.71 million, a PE ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.74. iRobot has a fifty-two week low of $1.76 and a fifty-two week high of $13.45.

About iRobot

iRobot Corporation designs, builds, and sells robots and home innovation products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, and internationally. The company offers floor care products, including Roomba floor vacuuming robots; Roomba accessories and consumables, such as the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal, replacement dirt disposal bags for the Clean Base, filters, brushes, and batteries; Braava family of automatic floor mopping robots; and Braava accessories and consumables, which include cleaning solution, washable and disposable mopping pads, replacement tanks, and batteries, as well as subscription services.