FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ:FORM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ:FORM - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,600,000 shares, an increase of 12.1% from the December 31st total of 3,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 800,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 4.7% of the company's stock are short sold.

FormFactor Stock Performance

Shares of FormFactor stock traded down $2.49 on Friday, reaching $35.84. 1,448,154 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 967,818. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.98 and a 200 day moving average of $44.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.76 and a quick ratio of 3.94. FormFactor has a 52 week low of $32.71 and a 52 week high of $63.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 1.07.

FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.14). FormFactor had a return on equity of 5.38% and a net margin of 18.29%. Equities analysts forecast that FormFactor will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mike Slessor sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.59, for a total value of $162,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 526,531 shares in the company, valued at $21,371,893.29. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $496,040. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FormFactor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FormFactor by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,527,851 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $67,225,000 after purchasing an additional 142,776 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in FormFactor by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,317 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in FormFactor by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 39,058 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 25,434 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC raised its holdings in FormFactor by 118.9% during the 4th quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 11,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 6,229 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in FormFactor during the 4th quarter worth about $14,222,000. 98.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FORM. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of FormFactor from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of FormFactor from $60.00 to $44.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on FormFactor from $50.00 to $43.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley lowered FormFactor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of FormFactor in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.50.

FormFactor Company Profile

FormFactor, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells probe cards, analytical probes, probe stations, metrology systems, thermal systems, and cryogenic systems to semiconductor companies and scientific institutions in the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Europe, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and internationally.