Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTG) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $4.45 and traded as high as $4.51. Acacia Research shares last traded at $4.38, with a volume of 694,570 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACTG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Acacia Research from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Acacia Research from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Acacia Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.00.

Acacia Research Trading Down 1.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $423.06 million, a P/E ratio of -24.33 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 8.56, a quick ratio of 8.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.45.

Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The business services provider reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.02. Acacia Research had a negative net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 2.81%. The company had revenue of $54.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACTG. Aegis Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Acacia Research during the first quarter valued at about $2,362,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Acacia Research by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,145,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,766,000 after purchasing an additional 355,916 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Acacia Research by 65.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 441,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 174,752 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Acacia Research in the second quarter valued at approximately $614,000. Finally, Peapod Lane Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Acacia Research by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 845,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,216,000 after purchasing an additional 119,783 shares during the period. 86.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Acacia Research Company Profile

Acacia Research Corporation is a publicly traded patent licensing company based in New York City. The firm specializes in acquiring patented technologies through a network of wholly owned subsidiaries and seeking licensing agreements or settlements with companies that utilize those technologies. Since its founding in 1993, Acacia has built a business model centered on identifying innovative inventions and monetizing them through patent enforcement and strategic partnerships.

The company’s activities span a broad range of technology sectors, including life sciences, medical devices, software, telecommunications and consumer electronics.