Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,470,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the July 31st total of 2,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 902,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IBKR. UBS Group boosted their target price on Interactive Brokers Group from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Interactive Brokers Group from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Interactive Brokers Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Interactive Brokers Group from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $132.33.

Institutional Trading of Interactive Brokers Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IBKR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Interactive Brokers Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $97,476,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Interactive Brokers Group by 1,292.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,082,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $132,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,289 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Interactive Brokers Group by 122.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 951,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,855,000 after purchasing an additional 524,503 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Interactive Brokers Group by 23.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,507,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,365,000 after purchasing an additional 481,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Interactive Brokers Group by 10.4% in the first quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,810,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $313,920,000 after purchasing an additional 264,543 shares in the last quarter. 23.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Interactive Brokers Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IBKR traded up $2.07 on Friday, reaching $128.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 703,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,206. Interactive Brokers Group has a 1-year low of $72.60 and a 1-year high of $129.19. The firm has a market cap of $54.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. The business's 50-day moving average price is $121.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.48.

Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Interactive Brokers Group had a return on equity of 4.88% and a net margin of 7.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Interactive Brokers Group will post 6.81 EPS for the current year.

Interactive Brokers Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Interactive Brokers Group's payout ratio is 17.09%.

About Interactive Brokers Group

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc operates as an automated electronic broker worldwide. The company engages in the execution, clearance, and settlement of trades in stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange instruments, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), precious metals, and cryptocurrencies.