Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Shopify Call Options (NYSE:SHOP)

Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 65,460 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 14% compared to the average volume of 57,243 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shopify

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Shopify during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Shopify by 3,657.1% during the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 263 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its stake in Shopify by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Shopify during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Shopify by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 401 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 69.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shopify Price Performance

Shares of SHOP stock traded up $4.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $125.36. The company had a trading volume of 8,031,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,907,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 7.10 and a current ratio of 7.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 2.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.02. Shopify has a one year low of $48.56 and a one year high of $128.00.

Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The software maker reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.10). Shopify had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 16.84%. Equities analysts expect that Shopify will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. New Street Research initiated coverage on Shopify in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Shopify from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Shopify from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Shopify from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Shopify in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shopify has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.14.

Shopify Company Profile

Shopify Inc, a commerce company, provides a commerce platform and services in Canada, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, China, and Latin America. The company’s platform enables merchants to displays, manages, markets, and sells its products through various sales channels, including web and mobile storefronts, physical retail locations, pop-up shops, social media storefronts, native mobile apps, buy buttons, and marketplaces; and enables to manage products and inventory, process orders and payments, fulfill and ship orders, new buyers and build customer relationships, source products, leverage analytics and reporting, manage cash, payments and transactions, and access financing.