Short Interest in IAC Inc. (NASDAQ:IAC) Drops By 16.5%

IAC Inc. (NASDAQ:IAC) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,645,888 shares, a decrease of 16.5% from the November 30th total of 9,160,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 991,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.7 days. Approximately 12.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 12.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 991,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IAC. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in IAC in the second quarter worth $2,924,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of IAC by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 449,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,632,000 after acquiring an additional 50,463 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in IAC by 112.7% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 18,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in IAC by 503.3% in the 2nd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 430,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,077,000 after acquiring an additional 359,180 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in IAC during the first quarter valued at about $685,000. 88.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on IAC. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of IAC from $60.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of IAC from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of IAC in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on IAC from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on IAC from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.67.

IAC Stock Performance

Shares of IAC stock opened at $39.10 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. IAC has a 12 month low of $29.56 and a 12 month high of $50.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.32 and a beta of 1.09.

IAC (NASDAQ:IAC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $589.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $601.86 million. IAC had a negative net margin of 8.27% and a negative return on equity of 4.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.93) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that IAC will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

About IAC

IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in New York City that builds and invests in consumer-focused internet businesses. Through its portfolio of digital media brands, online marketplaces and subscription services, IAC delivers content and connections across a range of verticals, including lifestyle, finance, home services and personal care. The company’s operations span North America and parts of Europe, where its brands reach millions of visitors each month.

In the digital publishing space, IAC’s Dotdash Meredith division develops original content and data‐driven journalism across more than a dozen specialty sites.