Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Trims Stock Holdings in Acacia Research Corporation $ACTG

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lowered its stake in Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTG) by 96.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 953,261 shares during the quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Acacia Research were worth $144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Acacia Research by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,145,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,766,000 after acquiring an additional 355,916 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Acacia Research by 65.4% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 441,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 174,752 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Acacia Research in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $614,000. Peapod Lane Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Acacia Research by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 845,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,216,000 after purchasing an additional 119,783 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Acacia Research by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,853,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,728,000 after purchasing an additional 95,089 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.69% of the company’s stock.

Acacia Research Stock Up 1.1%

ACTG stock opened at $4.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.51. Acacia Research Corporation has a 52 week low of $3.12 and a 52 week high of $5.27. The company has a quick ratio of 8.09, a current ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.25 million, a P/E ratio of -25.67 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Acacia Research from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.00.

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.