Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR) Stock Sees Heavy Put Option Buying

Key Points

• Put-option activity increased notably: Traders purchased 7,464 IBKR put options, about 21% above the average volume, signaling elevated bearish or hedging interest.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: IBKR carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $103.12, despite UBS maintaining a neutral rating.
• Recent business results were solid: Quarterly revenue rose 15.6% year over year to $1.87 billion, while EPS matched estimates at $0.67. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share.

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 7,464 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 21% compared to the average volume of 6,152 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interactive Brokers Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. increased its position in Interactive Brokers Group by 1,217.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 382 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in Interactive Brokers Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Tobam acquired a new stake in shares of Interactive Brokers Group during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Interactive Brokers Group during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Interactive Brokers Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 524 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 23.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on IBKR shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Interactive Brokers Group from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $116.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Interactive Brokers Group in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Interactive Brokers Group to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $104.00 price target on Interactive Brokers Group and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $101.00 price objective (down from $102.00) on shares of Interactive Brokers Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Interactive Brokers Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.12.

Interactive Brokers Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IBKR traded down $0.81 on Monday, hitting $81.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,016,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,680,868. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.32 and a 200-day moving average of $87.29. The company has a market capitalization of $139.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.37. Interactive Brokers Group has a 12-month low of $58.95 and a 12-month high of $98.75.

Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67. Interactive Brokers Group had a net margin of 10.03% and a return on equity of 5.38%. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Interactive Brokers Group will post 2.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interactive Brokers Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Interactive Brokers Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.0875. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Interactive Brokers Group's payout ratio is currently 23.08%.

About Interactive Brokers Group

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc is a global electronic brokerage company that provides trading, investment and portfolio management services to individual investors, institutional clients, financial advisers, hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and introducing brokers. Through its subsidiaries, the company offers access to a broad range of markets and financial instruments, including stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and certain digital assets.

Interactive Brokers provides its services through platforms such as Trader Workstation, IBKR Mobile and the Client Portal, as well as application programming interfaces for automated and institutional trading.

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