Short Interest in Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) Grows By 11.1%

Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 74,940,000 shares, an increase of 11.1% from the October 15th total of 67,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.4 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of INFY. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Infosys during the third quarter worth $33,000. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in Infosys by 50.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,979 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Infosys by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,931 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Infosys by 126.7% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,029 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Infosys in the second quarter valued at approximately $162,000. 10.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on INFY shares. StockNews.com raised Infosys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Investec cut Infosys from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised Infosys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Infosys from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.85.

Infosys Stock Performance

INFY stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $21.61. 4,816,443 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,226,959. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.64. The company has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.00. Infosys has a 1-year low of $16.04 and a 1-year high of $23.48.

Infosys (NYSE:INFY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.19. Infosys had a return on equity of 31.43% and a net margin of 17.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Infosys will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Infosys Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Friday, January 1st were issued a dividend of $0.2126 per share. This is a boost from Infosys’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.20. This represents a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. Infosys’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.85%.

Infosys Company Profile

Infosys Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, technology, outsourcing, and next-generation digital services in North America, Europe, India, and internationally. It provides digital marketing and digital workplace, digital commerce, digital experience and interactions, metaverse, data analytics and AI, applied AI, generative AI, sustainability, blockchain, engineering, Internet of Things, enterprise agile DevOps, application modernization, cloud, digital process automation, digital supply chain, Microsoft business application and cloud business, service experience transformation, energy transition, cyber security, and quality engineering solutions; Oracle, SAP, and Saleforce solutions; API economy and microservices; and Topaz, an AI-first set of services, solutions, and platforms using generative AI technologies.