Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL)

Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 146,383 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 74% compared to the typical volume of 84,084 call options.

Marvell Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ MRVL traded down $4.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.28. 48,266,075 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,449,962. The company has a market capitalization of $51.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Marvell Technology has a 12-month low of $47.09 and a 12-month high of $127.48.

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. Marvell Technology had a negative net margin of 27.49% and a positive return on equity of 4.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. Marvell Technology's revenue for the quarter was up 63.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Marvell Technology will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Marvell Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Marvell Technology's payout ratio is currently -23.53%.

Insider Activity at Marvell Technology

In other news, EVP Mark Casper sold 12,460 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $685,300.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brad W. Buss purchased 3,000 shares of Marvell Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.00 per share, with a total value of $207,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,797. The trade was a 3.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,541 shares of company stock worth $2,079,948. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Marvell Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marvell Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marvell Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Marvell Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in Marvell Technology by 776.0% during the first quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MRVL shares. Summit Insights cut shares of Marvell Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Marvell Technology in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Marvell Technology from $120.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Marvell Technology from $115.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Marvell Technology from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.21.

Marvell Technology Company Profile

Marvell Technology, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, spanning the data center core to network edge. The company develops and scales complex System-on-a-Chip architectures, integrating analog, mixed-signal, and digital signal processing functionality.