Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) Short Interest Up 44.8% in February

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 3,590,000 shares, an increase of 44.8% from the February 14th total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IBKR has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Interactive Brokers Group from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Interactive Brokers Group in a report on Friday, December 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Interactive Brokers Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $102.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

Insider Transactions at Interactive Brokers Group

In other Interactive Brokers Group news, Vice Chairman Earl H. Nemser sold 74,218 shares of Interactive Brokers Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.29, for a total transaction of $7,146,451.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 234,552 shares in the company, valued at $22,585,012.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Vice Chairman Earl H. Nemser sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.86, for a total transaction of $524,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 113,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,929,922.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Earl H. Nemser sold 74,218 shares of Interactive Brokers Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.29, for a total transaction of $7,146,451.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 234,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,585,012.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 520,027 shares of company stock valued at $48,369,714 in the last ninety days. 3.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Interactive Brokers Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IBKR. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Interactive Brokers Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Interactive Brokers Group in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Interactive Brokers Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Interactive Brokers Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Interactive Brokers Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 21.56% of the company’s stock.

Interactive Brokers Group Price Performance

Shares of IBKR traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $107.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,819,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,302,341. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.83. Interactive Brokers Group has a 12 month low of $70.83 and a 12 month high of $112.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.35.

Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Interactive Brokers Group had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 4.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Interactive Brokers Group will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interactive Brokers Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Interactive Brokers Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.07%.

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.