Investors Buy Large Volume of XPO Put Options (NYSE:XPO)

Key Points

• XPO saw unusually heavy bearish options activity: Traders bought 7,789 put options, approximately 1,248% above the average volume of 578.
• XPO shares fell 2.5% to $173.80, while company insiders sold 8,365 shares worth approximately $1.61 million during the past quarter under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Despite the options activity and insider selling, analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $225.82; institutional investors own 97.73% of the stock.

XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 7,789 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,248% compared to the average volume of 578 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David Bates sold 2,615 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.41, for a total transaction of $469,157.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,614,106.35. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kyle Wismans sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $133,890.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 48,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,696,780.32. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,365 shares of company stock worth $1,612,085. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On XPO

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XPO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in XPO in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,985,276,000. MFN Partners Management LP bought a new position in XPO in the second quarter worth about $2,026,148,865. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in XPO by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,970,231 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $403,684,000 after purchasing an additional 261,935 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of XPO by 115.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,420,899 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $470,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in XPO by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117,422 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $287,841,000 after acquiring an additional 22,614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised XPO from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America cut their price target on XPO from $248.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on XPO in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $244.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $247.00 target price on shares of XPO in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of XPO from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.82.

XPO Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:XPO traded down $4.44 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.80. The company had a trading volume of 443,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,444,639. The stock has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.14. XPO has a one year low of $121.48 and a one year high of $232.05.

XPO (NYSE:XPO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. XPO had a return on equity of 29.64% and a net margin of 4.71%.XPO's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that XPO will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

XPO Company Profile

XPO, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides freight-moving services to businesses in North America and Europe. Its operations are centered on less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation, which consolidates shipments from multiple customers onto individual trucks. The company serves manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and other commercial customers through a network of terminals, drivers and freight-handling facilities.

In addition to LTL shipping, XPO provides truck brokerage and other transportation-management services, helping customers arrange freight capacity and manage the movement of goods.

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