Short Interest in PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) Grows By 35.2%

PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, a growth of 35.2% from the January 31st total of 1,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 944,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PTC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PTC from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on PTC from $202.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut PTC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $204.00 price objective on shares of PTC in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of PTC from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.09.

PTC Stock Performance

Shares of PTC stock opened at $161.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.19. PTC has a one year low of $155.53 and a one year high of $203.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $178.39 and its 200 day moving average is $182.69.

PTC (NASDAQ:PTC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The technology company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.12). PTC had a net margin of 16.95% and a return on equity of 14.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that PTC will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PTC

In other news, EVP Staats Aaron C. Von sold 5,373 shares of PTC stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.13, for a total value of $1,075,298.49. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,344,221.91. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PTC. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in PTC in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of PTC by 70.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of PTC by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 188 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PTC during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in PTC during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

About PTC

PTC Inc operates as software company in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides Windchill, a suite that manages all aspects of the product development lifecycle(PLM) that provides real-time information sharing, dynamic data visualization, collaborate across geographically distributed teams, and enabling manufacturers to elevate product development, manufacturing, and field service processes; ThingWorx, a platform for Industrial Internet of Things; ServiceMax, a field service management solutions enable companies to asset uptime with optimized in-person and remote service and technician productivity with mobile tools.