Taylor Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAYD) Short Interest Up 107.9% in March

Taylor Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAYD) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,500 shares, an increase of 107.9% from the February 29th total of 8,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Taylor Devices

In related news, major shareholder Ira Sochet sold 459,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $9,143,578.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taylor Devices

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Taylor Devices during the first quarter worth $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Taylor Devices during the third quarter worth $105,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Taylor Devices by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Taylor Devices by 33.8% in the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp bought a new position in Taylor Devices in the fourth quarter valued at $268,000. Institutional investors own 17.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Taylor Devices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

Taylor Devices Stock Up 13.8 %

NASDAQ TAYD traded up $6.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $49.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,643. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.63 and a 200 day moving average of $27.56. Taylor Devices has a twelve month low of $16.77 and a twelve month high of $49.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.30 million, a P/E ratio of 20.46 and a beta of 0.97.

Taylor Devices (NASDAQ:TAYD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 10th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. Taylor Devices had a net margin of 18.48% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The firm had revenue of $10.34 million during the quarter.

About Taylor Devices

Taylor Devices, Inc engages in design, development, manufacture, and marketing of shock absorption, rate control, and energy storage devices for use in machinery, equipment, and structures in the United States, Asia, and internationally. Its products include seismic dampers that are designed to mitigate the effects of earthquakes on structures; Fluidicshoks, which are compact shock absorbers primarily used in defense, aerospace, and commercial industries; and crane and industrial buffers, which are larger versions of the Fluidicshoks for industrial application on cranes and crane trolleys, truck docks, ladle and ingot cars, ore trolleys, and train car stops.