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

Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 55,560 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the average daily volume of 42,578 call options.

Shopify Stock Performance

SHOP stock opened at $112.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $145.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 2.83. Shopify has a 1 year low of $69.84 and a 1 year high of $182.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.86.

Shopify (NASDAQ:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The software maker reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. Shopify had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 16.65%.The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Shopify will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHOP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $155.00 price target on Shopify and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Shopify in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Shopify in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $192.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Shopify in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Shopify from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Twenty-five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eighteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shopify

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHOP. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Shopify in the third quarter worth about $4,110,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Shopify by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 450,895 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $67,006,000 after buying an additional 63,300 shares during the period. Triton Financial Group Inc bought a new position in shares of Shopify during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,931,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Shopify by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 5,231,257 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $603,425,000 after buying an additional 218,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its position in Shopify by 65.5% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 158,514 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $23,557,000 after acquiring an additional 62,743 shares during the period. 69.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shopify Company Profile

Shopify is a Canadian commerce technology company that provides a cloud-based platform for businesses to create, manage and scale online and physical retail stores. Its core offering is a software-as-a-service e-commerce platform that enables merchants to build customizable storefronts, manage product catalogs, process orders, and handle inventory. Shopify also supports omnichannel selling through integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems for in-person transactions.

Beyond storefront software, Shopify offers a range of merchant services and tools designed to simplify commerce operations.