Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 713,600 shares, a growth of 19.1% from the February 28th total of 599,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 620,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Stratasys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSYS opened at $9.98 on Thursday. Stratasys has a 1 year low of $6.05 and a 1 year high of $12.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.30. The company has a market cap of $715.73 million, a P/E ratio of -7.56 and a beta of 1.28.

Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The technology company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. Stratasys had a negative net margin of 16.13% and a negative return on equity of 3.75%. The firm had revenue of $150.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stratasys will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stratasys

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSYS. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Stratasys in the third quarter worth $90,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Stratasys by 785.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 129,728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 115,080 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stratasys during the 3rd quarter valued at about $322,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stratasys during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,916,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Stratasys in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. 75.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Stratasys from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Stratasys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Stratasys from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.20.

About Stratasys

Stratasys Ltd. provides connected polymer-based 3D printing solutions. It offers range of 3D printing systems, which includes polyjet printer, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers, stereolithography printing systems, origin P3 printers, and selective absorption fusion printer for additive manufacturing, and tooling and rapid prototyping for various vertical markets, such as automotive, aerospace, consumer products and healthcare.