Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Stratasys Call Options (NASDAQ:SSYS)

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 3,227 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 155% compared to the typical volume of 1,267 call options.

Stratasys Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ SSYS opened at $10.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $725.05 million, a P/E ratio of -7.66 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.24. Stratasys has a 12-month low of $6.05 and a 12-month high of $12.88.

Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The technology company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. Stratasys had a negative return on equity of 3.75% and a negative net margin of 16.13%. The company had revenue of $150.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.02 EPS. Stratasys’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stratasys will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSYS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Stratasys from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered Stratasys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Stratasys from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSYS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stratasys by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,399,898 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,445,000 after purchasing an additional 9,522 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP raised its stake in Stratasys by 23.3% in the third quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,367,226 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,362,000 after buying an additional 258,603 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Stratasys during the 3rd quarter worth about $10,916,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Stratasys by 53.1% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,153,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,255,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPG Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stratasys by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,086,337 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,658,000 after acquiring an additional 426,341 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.77% of the company’s stock.

Stratasys Company Profile

Stratasys Ltd. provides connected polymer-based 3D printing solutions. It offers range of 3D printing systems, which includes polyjet printer, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers, stereolithography printing systems, origin P3 printers, and selective absorption fusion printer for additive manufacturing, and tooling and rapid prototyping for various vertical markets, such as automotive, aerospace, consumer products and healthcare.