Investors Purchase Large Volume of Compass Call Options (NYSE:COMP)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity hit Compass, with investors buying 12,268 call options on Wednesday, about 148% above the normal volume of 4,950.
• CEO Robert L. Reffkin sold 23,456 shares at an average price of $12.51 in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, trimming his stake by about 0.30% while still owning more than 7.78 million shares.
• Compass reported a better-than-expected quarter, posting $0.03 EPS versus an expected loss and revenue of $2.70 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $13.12.

Compass, Inc. (NYSE:COMP - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 12,268 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 148% compared to the typical volume of 4,950 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Compass news, CEO Robert L. Reffkin sold 23,456 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.51, for a total value of $293,434.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,781,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,342,862.04. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

Compass Stock Performance

Shares of COMP traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.69. The stock had a trading volume of 11,064,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,389,836. Compass has a 52 week low of $6.37 and a 52 week high of $13.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.69. The firm has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 632.75 and a beta of 2.35.

Compass (NYSE:COMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.67 billion. Compass had a return on equity of 1.11% and a net margin of 0.17%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Compass will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COMP. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Compass from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Compass in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Compass from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Compass from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Compass from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.12.

About Compass

Compass, Inc is a technology-driven real estate brokerage firm that provides a full suite of services for home buyers, sellers and renters. Utilizing a proprietary software platform, the company equips its network of licensed real estate agents with data analytics, marketing automation and client relationship tools designed to enhance efficiency and transaction transparency.

Founded in 2012 by Ori Allon and Robert Reffkin, Compass has grown from a single office in New York City to serve more than 300 markets across the United States.

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