Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Trade Desk Call Options (NASDAQ:TTD)

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 58,411 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 52% compared to the average volume of 38,545 call options.

Trade Desk Trading Down 10.5 %

Shares of TTD traded down $6.32 on Thursday, reaching $53.88. 20,830,164 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,714,503. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $100.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.21. Trade Desk has a 52-week low of $53.74 and a 52-week high of $141.53. The stock has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a PE ratio of 69.08, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.63.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.21). Trade Desk had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 16.08%. Analysts forecast that Trade Desk will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Trade Desk declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $564.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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Insider Transactions at Trade Desk

In related news, insider Jay R. Grant sold 18,524 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 169,464 shares in the company, valued at $20,225,528.40. This represents a 9.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Samantha Jacobson sold 4,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,754,459.04. The trade was a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,029 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,296. 9.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trade Desk

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TTD. Ithaka Group LLC increased its position in Trade Desk by 4.5% in the third quarter. Ithaka Group LLC now owns 112,888 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,378,000 after buying an additional 4,836 shares during the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 98,339 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,558,000 after acquiring an additional 19,204 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Trade Desk by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,347,318 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $159,132,000 after acquiring an additional 358,350 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 2,461.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 73,559 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,066,000 after purchasing an additional 70,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Trade Desk by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,321,400 shares of the technology company's stock worth $144,892,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp raised Trade Desk to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Macquarie upped their price objective on Trade Desk from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $160.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Trade Desk from $142.00 to $101.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Trade Desk from $140.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $119.45.

About Trade Desk

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.