NETGEAR Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:NTGR)

Key Points

• Investors bought 2,733 put options on NETGEAR Wednesday — a 483% increase over the typical 469 puts, indicating unusually heavy bearish/hedging activity.
• Analyst coverage is mixed with a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.00, reflecting two Buys, one Hold and one Sell.
• Insider Pramod Badjate sold 3,000 shares at $20.97, while institutions like Amundi, Goldman Sachs and UBS increased positions; institutions now own about 82.97% of the stock.

NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 2,733 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 483% compared to the typical volume of 469 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NTGR. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 target price on shares of NETGEAR in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NETGEAR from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of NETGEAR in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised NETGEAR from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Insider Activity at NETGEAR

In other news, insider Pramod Badjate sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.97, for a total value of $62,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 144,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,031,968.42. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi increased its position in NETGEAR by 99.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 48,211 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 23,993 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in NETGEAR by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 279,874 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $6,846,000 after buying an additional 37,469 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in NETGEAR by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 74,146 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,814,000 after buying an additional 9,021 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in NETGEAR by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 34,690 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 1,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in NETGEAR by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 51,678 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,502,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NETGEAR Stock Performance

Shares of NTGR stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 105,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 537,315. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.19. NETGEAR has a 52 week low of $19.00 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $670.59 million, a PE ratio of -38.49 and a beta of 1.09.

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.21. NETGEAR had a negative return on equity of 2.40% and a negative net margin of 2.56%.The firm had revenue of $182.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.26 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.06) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NETGEAR will post -1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

NETGEAR Company Profile

NETGEAR, Inc NASDAQ: NTGR is a global provider of networking solutions for consumer, business and service provider markets. The company designs, develops and markets a comprehensive portfolio of products that enable high-speed connectivity, data storage and network security for homes, small to medium-sized businesses and large enterprises.

Its product lineup includes Wi-Fi routers, mesh networking systems, cable modems, mobile broadband gateways and Ethernet switches—offered in both managed and unmanaged configurations.

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