Short Interest in Immersion Co. (NASDAQ:IMMR) Expands By 35.7%

Immersion Co. (NASDAQ:IMMR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,080,000 shares, an increase of 35.7% from the August 15th total of 2,270,000 shares. Approximately 10.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 996,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider William C. Martin acquired 15,000 shares of Immersion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.81 per share, for a total transaction of $132,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,364,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,019,174.65. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Immersion news, CEO Eric Singer bought 50,000 shares of Immersion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.77 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,912,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,775,843.59. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider William C. Martin bought 15,000 shares of Immersion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.81 per share, for a total transaction of $132,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,364,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,019,174.65. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 66,155 shares of company stock worth $580,675 over the last quarter. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Immersion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Immersion by 160.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 3,995 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Immersion in the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Immersion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $107,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Immersion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $113,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.57% of the company’s stock.

Immersion Stock Down 6.4 %

NASDAQ IMMR traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $8.69. 437,783 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,872. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Immersion has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $13.94. The firm has a market cap of $276.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.48.

Immersion (NASDAQ:IMMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The software maker reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.55. Immersion had a return on equity of 27.05% and a net margin of 40.62%. The company had revenue of $99.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Immersion will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Immersion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Immersion’s payout ratio is currently 13.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on IMMR. StockNews.com upgraded Immersion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BWS Financial boosted their price objective on Immersion from $11.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th.

About Immersion

Immersion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, design, development, and licensing of haptic technologies that allow people to use their sense of touch to engage with and experience various digital products in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company provides technology, patent, and combined licenses.