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

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 89,834 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 97% compared to the typical volume of 45,523 call options.

Trade Desk Trading Up 4.5 %

NASDAQ:TTD opened at $62.00 on Wednesday. Trade Desk has a twelve month low of $53.39 and a twelve month high of $141.53. The company has a market capitalization of $30.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.33.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Trade Desk will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Trade Desk declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Trade Desk news, insider Jay R. Grant sold 18,524 shares of Trade Desk stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was 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 owns 169,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,225,528.40. This trade represents a 9.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Terry Green sold 18,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.44, for a total transaction of $2,283,886.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,229 shares in the company, valued at $88,338,485.76. This trade represents a 2.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,029 shares of company stock worth $5,004,296 in the last 90 days. 9.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trade Desk

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its position in shares of Trade Desk by 24.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 358,350 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Trade Desk by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,109,380 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,294,000 after acquiring an additional 68,206 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Trade Desk by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 70,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,255,000 after purchasing an additional 51,603 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Trade Desk by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,358 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,057,000 after buying an additional 11,181 shares during the last quarter. 67.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Trade Desk from $155.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $116.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Trade Desk presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.41.

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.