5 Nasdaq Stocks with Ballooning Short Interest

#4. INC Research Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:INCR)

– Change in short interest in the period of June 15-June 30: +78.3%

– Investors with long positions as of March 31: 27

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings as of March 31: $263.32 Million

There were 27 asset managers from our system with equity investments in INC Research Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:INCR) at the end of the March quarter, as compared to 26 registered at the end of the December quarter. Despite the increase, the aggregate value of those equity investments fell by 9% quarter-on-quarter to 263.32 million. The 27 hedge funds accumulated roughly 12% of the company’s outstanding shares. The number of INCR shares short rose by 78% in the second half of June to 1.69 million shares, so let’s try to find out what might have spurred the bearish sentiment around the company. An article posted by Bloomberg in April said Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) was interested in acquiring contract research organization INC Research in an attempt to strengthen its dominant position in the U.S. diagnostics industry, but the rumors have not materialized just yet. The lack of media scrutiny around a possible deal might have triggered the massive increase in short interest. INCR shares are 12% in the red year-to-date. Adage Capital Management, founded by Phillip Gross and Robert Atchinson, had 800,000 shares of INC Research Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:INCR) among its holdings on March 31.

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#3. Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC)

– Change in short interest in the period of June 15-June 30: +94.5%

– Investors with long positions as of March 31: 33

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings as of March 31: $835.80 Million

The number of shares short in Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) rose by 15.87 million during the second half of June to 32.66 million on the settlement date of June 30. Looking back at the first quarter of 2016, the number of money managers from our system with stakes in Symantec climbed to 33 from 29 quarter-on-quarter, while the overall value of those stakes increased by almost 13% quarter-over-quarter to $835.80 million. Symantec shares have gained 13% in the past three months, partially due to the announcement that the Norton antivirus software marker agreed to acquire privately held cyber security company Blue Coat Inc. for $4.65 billion in cash. Blue Coat’s current CEO, Greg Clark, will be appointed CEO of Symantec at closing. Some analysts believe the $4.65 billion price tag is somewhat expensive, as the figure represents 6.2-times fiscal 2016 non-GAAP sales, above the 5.5-times enterprise value/forward sales for the fast-growing software-as-a-service industry. Paul Singer’s Elliott Management was the owner of 11.53 million shares of Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) at the end of March.

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