Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU)

Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 2,728 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 357% compared to the average daily volume of 597 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on OPTU. Evercore set a $1.25 price target on Optimum Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Optimum Communications from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research raised Optimum Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Optimum Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $0.95.

Optimum Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OPTU opened at $1.06 on Thursday. Optimum Communications has a 1-year low of $0.58 and a 1-year high of $2.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $502.68 million, a PE ratio of -0.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total value of $31,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 1,199,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,651.79. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $80,000 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 44.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Optimum Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $46,002,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $41,297,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $27,135,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $24,478,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Optimum Communications by 11.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,803,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,217,000 after acquiring an additional 879,589 shares in the last quarter. 54.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Optimum Communications

Altice USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to approximately five million residential and business customers. The company’s video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications.