MaxLinear Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MXL)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 4,287 MaxLinear call options on Wednesday, about 35% above the stock’s average daily call volume, signaling elevated bullish interest.
• Shares and results jumped: MXL rose $2.68 to $91.44 on heavier-than-normal trading after the company recently beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.22 versus the $0.18 consensus.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but improving: Several firms recently raised price targets or upgraded the stock, with consensus still at Hold and an average target price of $59.40 despite the strong rally.

MaxLinear, Inc (NASDAQ:MXL - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 4,287 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average daily volume of 3,177 call options.

MaxLinear Price Performance

Shares of MXL traded up $2.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.44. The stock had a trading volume of 4,653,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,954,277. MaxLinear has a 52 week low of $11.63 and a 52 week high of $106.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $53.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.34. The company has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.06 and a beta of 3.98.

MaxLinear (NASDAQ:MXL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. MaxLinear had a negative return on equity of 2.33% and a negative net margin of 25.96%.The company had revenue of $137.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 43.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MaxLinear will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MaxLinear

In related news, insider Connie H. Kwong sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.96, for a total transaction of $3,393,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,947 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,301.12. The trade was a 71.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven G. Litchfield sold 20,000 shares of MaxLinear stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.68, for a total value of $313,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 343,435 shares in the company, valued at $5,385,060.80. The trade was a 5.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 90,097 shares of company stock worth $5,955,815 in the last 90 days. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MaxLinear

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MXL. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 419.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,149,589 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $37,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,141 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 582.7% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 861,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $15,007,000 after acquiring an additional 734,875 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,889,111 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $41,054,000 after acquiring an additional 628,719 shares during the last quarter. Defiance ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of MaxLinear in the 4th quarter worth $10,944,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MaxLinear by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,326,387 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $232,279,000 after acquiring an additional 605,903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MXL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of MaxLinear in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC raised MaxLinear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on MaxLinear from $34.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MaxLinear in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm raised MaxLinear from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MaxLinear currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.40.

About MaxLinear

MaxLinear, Inc is a provider of radio-frequency (RF), analog, and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communications, data center connectivity, and video infrastructure applications. The company's product portfolio includes high-performance RF front-end modules, broadband power amplifiers, optical and Ethernet transceivers, and network processors designed to support demanding signal processing requirements.

MaxLinear's semiconductor solutions are used by cable and satellite television operators, fiber-to-the-home service providers, network equipment manufacturers, and data center operators.

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