Traders Purchase Large Volume of PDD Call Options (NASDAQ:PDD)

PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 172,702 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average volume of 119,893 call options.

Institutional Trading of PDD

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDD. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in PDD by 1.0% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 35,128,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,670,322,000 after purchasing an additional 348,130 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in PDD by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,261,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,820,408,000 after buying an additional 97,648 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. lifted its holdings in PDD by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 11,791,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,767,000 after buying an additional 1,680,600 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in PDD by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,913,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,237,000 after buying an additional 826,525 shares during the period. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd grew its stake in PDD by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 5,378,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788,076 shares in the last quarter. 29.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PDD shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of PDD from $206.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Daiwa America upgraded PDD to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on PDD from $224.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on PDD from $193.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Nomura Securities raised PDD to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $177.78.

PDD Price Performance

NASDAQ:PDD opened at $135.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.35. PDD has a 1 year low of $88.01 and a 1 year high of $164.69.

PDD (NASDAQ:PDD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 26th. The company reported $23.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $20.58. PDD had a return on equity of 48.14% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company had revenue of $97.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. PDD’s revenue was up 85.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that PDD will post 11.05 EPS for the current year.

PDD Company Profile

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.