Short Interest in Zebra Technologies Co. (NASDAQ:ZBRA) Grows By 35.3%

Zebra Technologies Co. (NASDAQ:ZBRA - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 879,100 shares, an increase of 35.3% from the January 31st total of 649,800 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 461,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Zebra Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ZBRA traded down $2.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $291.73. 649,945 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,196. The stock has a market cap of $14.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $366.57 and a 200-day moving average of $371.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.43. Zebra Technologies has a 52 week low of $266.75 and a 52 week high of $427.76.

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Zebra Technologies had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 18.34%. On average, analysts forecast that Zebra Technologies will post 13.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Zebra Technologies

In related news, Director Anders Gustafsson acquired 500 shares of Zebra Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $311.00 per share, with a total value of $155,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 202,176 shares in the company, valued at $62,876,736. This trade represents a 0.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Zebra Technologies by 1.1% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,454 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,982,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Zebra Technologies by 44.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 167,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $61,890,000 after buying an additional 51,488 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Zebra Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 19,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC purchased a new stake in Zebra Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $222,000. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its stake in Zebra Technologies by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 979 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. 91.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ZBRA. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Zebra Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $430.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Zebra Technologies from $407.00 to $326.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Zebra Technologies from $430.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Zebra Technologies from $427.00 to $390.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Zebra Technologies from $409.00 to $379.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.42.

About Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Intelligence & Tracking, and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility. The company designs, manufactures, and sells printers that produce labels, wristbands, tickets, receipts, and plastic cards; dye-sublimination thermal card printers that produce images, which are used for personal identification, access control, and financial transactions; radio frequency identification device (RFID) printers that encode data into passive RFID transponders; accessories and options for printers, including carrying cases, vehicle mounts, and battery chargers; stock and customized thermal labels, receipts, ribbons, plastic cards, and RFID tags for printers; and temperature-monitoring labels primarily used in vaccine distribution.