Investors Purchase Large Volume of Trade Desk Call Options (NASDAQ:TTD)

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 40,994 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 58% compared to the average volume of 26,009 call options.

Trade Desk Stock Performance

Trade Desk stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $80.03. 16,226,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,630,083. The stock has a market cap of $39.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.45. Trade Desk has a one year low of $76.12 and a one year high of $141.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $119.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.53.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.21). Trade Desk had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 13.34%. Sell-side analysts predict that Trade Desk will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Trade Desk announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $564.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Trade Desk news, insider Jay R. Grant sold 18,524 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.35, for a total transaction of $2,210,839.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 169,464 shares in the company, valued at $20,225,528.40. This represents a 9.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Samantha Jacobson sold 4,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.56, for a total transaction of $509,570.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 90,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,754,459.04. This trade represents a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,029 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,296 in the last three months. 9.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trade Desk

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in Trade Desk during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Trade Desk during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Trade Desk by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 287 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Trade Desk during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Trade Desk during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 67.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TTD shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Trade Desk from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 30th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Trade Desk from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $155.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Trade Desk presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.97.

Trade Desk Company Profile

The Trade Desk, Inc operates as a technology company in the United States and internationally. The company offers a self-service cloud-based platform that allows buyers to plan, manage, optimize, and measure data-driven digital advertising campaigns across various ad formats and channels, including video, display, audio, digital-out-of-home, native, and social on various devices, such as computers, mobile devices, televisions, and streaming devices.