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The 7 Most Heavily Shorted Nasdaq Stocks

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courtesy of Sirius XM Radio
Here’s a look at the seven Nasdaq-traded stocks with the largest number of shares held short as of October 15. Only two of them experienced declines in short interest, and by fairly small amounts. Increases in short interest were more widespread and, on the whole, considerably larger than the declines.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) saw its short interest fall by 1.5% to 246.2 million shares, about 10.2% of the stock’s float. Days to cover was five. The stock’s share price fell about 6.9% in the two-week period to October 15 and closed at $3.37 Friday, in a 52-week range of $2.98 to $3.89. The share price has dropped about 3.4% since January 1.

Short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) rose 2.3% in the two-week period. Some 151.49 million shares are currently short, representing 15.2% of the company’s float and a days-to-cover number of 16. The company’s famously generous dividend yield has slipped to 6.4% from over 8% in late February. Shares closed Friday at $6.28, in a 52-week range of $4.36 to $7.24. They posted a share price decrease of about 8.9% for the two-week short interest period. Year to date, the stock has gained about 35%.

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For Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), short interest rose 10.5% to 137.17 million shares. About 2.8% of Intel’s float was short and days to cover was three. The stock’s price dropped more than 10% during the two-week period, and it is up nearly 28% year to date. The stock closed at $33.18 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $23.40 to $35.56.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) has 104.08 million shares short, down 0.9% from the number short on September 30, and 9.8% of the company’s float. Days to cover was three for the heavily traded stock. Shares dropped 20% in the period to October 15, they and are up nearly 43% year to date. Shares closed at $31.06 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $16.30 to $34.85.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) experienced a rise of 0.5% in short interest during the two-week period. Some 4.7% of the company’s shares are held short and the days to cover was five. The stock’s price was down more than 6% in the two-week period and up about 4.5% year to date. Shares closed at $54.26 Friday night, in a 52-week range of $46.58 to $57.49.

Short interest in BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) rose 8.3% in the first two weeks of October to a total of 99.84 million shares, or 20.4% of BlackBerry’s float. Days to cover is eight for this highly volatile stock. Short sellers watched share prices fall nearly 11% in the two-week period. They closed at $10.26 Friday night, in a 52-week range of $5.44 to $11.65, and are up about 38% year to date.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) remained among the top seven shorted stocks on the Nasdaq, with the number of shares short rising by 2.1% to 99.55 million. Days to cover is two and just 1.7% of Apple’s shares were shorted. The stock price fell about 2.5% in the two-week period and shares closed at $105.22 Friday, near the top of a 52-week range of $70.51 to $105.49. Year to date, the shares are up more than 31%.

ALSO READ: Short Interest in Semiconductors Becomes Company Specific

 

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