Traders Buy High Volume of PDD Put Options (NASDAQ:PDD)

PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 132,077 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 133% compared to the typical daily volume of 56,699 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PDD

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PDD. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in PDD by 136.0% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 257,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,857,000 after purchasing an additional 148,166 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in PDD by 100.2% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in PDD by 16.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in PDD by 30.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 6,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in PDD by 16.5% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PDD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of PDD from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $136.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of PDD from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PDD from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PDD from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of PDD from $164.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.85.

PDD Price Performance

NASDAQ:PDD opened at $113.70 on Friday. PDD has a 1-year low of $59.67 and a 1-year high of $152.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.67.

PDD (NASDAQ:PDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.81. PDD had a net margin of 24.23% and a return on equity of 39.10%. The firm had revenue of $12.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.80 billion. On average, research analysts expect that PDD will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About PDD

PDD Holdings Inc, a multinational commerce group, owns and operates a portfolio of businesses. It operates Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform that offers products in various categories, including agricultural produce, apparel, shoes, bags, mother and childcare products, food and beverage, electronic appliances, furniture and household goods, cosmetics and other personal care, sports and fitness items and auto accessories; and Temu, an online marketplace.