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

Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 65,460 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 14% compared to the average volume of 57,243 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SHOP shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Shopify from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Shopify in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Shopify from $126.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark raised shares of Shopify from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Shopify in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shopify

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Argent Trust Co acquired a new stake in Shopify in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $603,000. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shopify by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Shopify by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 332,199 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $35,331,000 after purchasing an additional 133,059 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shopify by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,117,479 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $118,566,000 after purchasing an additional 42,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shopify by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 38,167 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.27% of the company’s stock.

Shopify Stock Up 4.0 %

SHOP stock traded up $4.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $125.36. 8,031,787 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,907,958. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a current ratio of 7.10, a quick ratio of 7.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.02. Shopify has a 12-month low of $48.56 and a 12-month high of $128.00.

Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The software maker reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Shopify will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

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.