8×8 Inc (NASDAQ:EGHT) Short Interest Up 25.2% in March

8×8 Inc (NASDAQ:EGHT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,777,663 shares, a growth of 25.2% from the March 15th total of 3,017,174 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 931,207 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at 8X8

In related news, insider Hunter Middleton sold 85,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total value of $212,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 652,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,357.50. This trade represents a 11.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 8X8

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of 8X8 by 31.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,234,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,586 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 8X8 by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,516,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,932,000 after purchasing an additional 628,024 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in 8X8 by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,582,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,192,000 after purchasing an additional 625,479 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 8X8 by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,139,000 after purchasing an additional 558,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in 8X8 by 314.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 633,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 480,477 shares during the last quarter. 93.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

8X8 Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of 8X8 stock opened at $1.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. 8X8 has a 1 year low of $1.52 and a 1 year high of $2.84. The company has a market capitalization of $275.85 million, a P/E ratio of -98.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $2.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded 8X8 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on 8X8 from $3.50 to $2.75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of 8X8 in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.29.

8X8 Company Profile

8×8, Inc (NASDAQ: EGHT) is a global provider of cloud-based enterprise communications, collaboration and contact centre solutions. The company’s unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform integrates voice, video, chat, SMS and contact-centre capabilities into a single, software-driven solution. By combining real-time analytics, team messaging and interoperability with third-party business applications, 8×8 aims to simplify communications infrastructure for organisations of all sizes.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Campbell, California, 8×8 pioneered hosted VoIP services for businesses in the late 1990s and went public on the NASDAQ in 1997.