Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on WM Technology (NASDAQ:MAPS)

Key Points

• Unusually heavy call buying: Investors purchased 3,862 call options on MAPS on Thursday, a 273% increase over the average daily volume of 1,035 calls.
• Significant insider selling: CEO Douglas Francis sold 103,019 shares and CTO Sarah Griffis sold 271,032 shares at about $0.68, with insiders selling 475,260 shares over the last three months and now owning 23.64% of the stock.
• Weak recent results and analyst action: Shares traded at $0.37 (market cap ~$59.2M), the company missed EPS (‑$0.03 vs $0.03 expected) and was downgraded by Weiss Ratings to a "sell" despite a consensus price target of $2.61.

WM Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAPS - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 3,862 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 273% compared to the average daily volume of 1,035 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas Francis sold 103,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.68, for a total value of $70,052.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,467,787 shares in the company, valued at $5,758,095.16. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Sarah Griffis sold 271,032 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.68, for a total value of $184,301.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,528,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,039,698.24. This represents a 15.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 475,260 shares of company stock worth $323,177 over the last three months. 23.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WM Technology

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of WM Technology by 1,399.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,512,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,754,000 after buying an additional 1,411,456 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of WM Technology by 27.4% during the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 707,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 152,219 shares during the period. Alpha Wave Global LP increased its stake in shares of WM Technology by 29.9% during the third quarter. Alpha Wave Global LP now owns 441,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 101,619 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new position in shares of WM Technology during the third quarter valued at $290,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of WM Technology by 67.0% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 224,902 shares of the company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 90,247 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 22.02% of the company's stock.

WM Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MAPS traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $0.37. 1,817,935 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,157,617. WM Technology has a 12 month low of $0.33 and a 12 month high of $1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $0.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $0.87.

WM Technology (NASDAQ:MAPS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.06). WM Technology had a return on equity of 1.51% and a net margin of 1.12%.The business had revenue of $43.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.00 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded WM Technology from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $2.61.

WM Technology Company Profile

WM Technology, Inc is a software-as-a-service provider that delivers cloud-based solutions to the wealth and asset management industry. The company's platform is designed to support financial advisors, broker-dealers and registered investment advisors with digital investment advice, portfolio management, performance reporting and compliance monitoring.

WM Technology's product suite includes tools for streamlined client onboarding, interactive financial planning, automated portfolio rebalancing and tax-aware investment strategies.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.