Hello Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MOMO)

Hello Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MOMO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 4,838 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 390% compared to the average volume of 988 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MOMO. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Hello Group from $6.40 to $5.70 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hello Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Hello Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Hello Group from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Hello Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hello Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hello Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Hello Group by 26.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,377,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538,632 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hello Group by 994.2% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,617,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,500 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Hello Group by 188.3% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,001,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,961,000 after buying an additional 654,200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Hello Group by 33.5% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,277,629 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,144,000 after buying an additional 571,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Hello Group by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,274,996 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,711,000 after buying an additional 555,602 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.96% of the company’s stock.

Hello Group Stock Down 0.1 %

MOMO opened at $6.60 on Thursday. Hello Group has a one year low of $4.79 and a one year high of $11.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $956.34 million, a P/E ratio of 6.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.13.

Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The information services provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.02. Hello Group had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.61%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.48 billion. The business’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hello Group will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

About Hello Group

Hello Group Inc provides mobile-based social and entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. It operates in three segments: Momo, Tantan, and QOOL. The company offers Momo, a mobile application that connects people and facilitates social interactions based on location, interests, and various online recreational activities, including live talent shows, short videos, social games, as well as other video- and audio-based interactive experiences, such as online parties, mobile karaoke and user participated reality shows; Tantan, a social and dating application; and other applications under the Hertz, Soulchill, Duidui, and Tietie names.