Grab Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GRAB)

Grab Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GRAB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 47,187 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 26% compared to the average daily volume of 37,505 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $6.25 target price on shares of Grab in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Grab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Grab from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Grab in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $7.00 target price on Grab in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Grab presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Peter Henry Oey sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.90, for a total value of $145,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,803,470 shares in the company, valued at $19,730,063. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Chin Ong sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.09, for a total value of $117,420.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,594,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,107,347.99. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 819,349 shares of company stock worth $2,865,355. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grab

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GRAB. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Grab by 58.0% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 54,906,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,957,000 after acquiring an additional 20,152,535 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Grab by 74.5% in the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 32,601,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,321,000 after acquiring an additional 13,919,053 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Grab during the first quarter worth approximately $48,731,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Grab by 80.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,993,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,818,000 after purchasing an additional 10,681,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Grab by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 156,175,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,783,000 after purchasing an additional 9,357,389 shares during the last quarter. 55.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grab Price Performance

GRAB traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2.94. 52,330,897 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 80,227,776. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.51. Grab has a 52-week low of $2.74 and a 52-week high of $6.24. The company has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.01, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.01. Grab had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 8.83%. The business had revenue of $997.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.97 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Grab will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Grab Company Profile

Grab Holdings Limited is a Singapore-based technology company that operates a superapp serving consumers, drivers, merchants and businesses across Southeast Asia. Its platform connects users with everyday services through a single digital application.

The company’s main businesses include mobility services such as ride-hailing and taxi bookings, food and grocery delivery, and digital payments. Grab also provides financial services, including digital wallets, lending, insurance and other financial products, subject to local regulations.