Magnite Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MGNI)

Key Points

• Magnite saw unusually high options activity, with investors buying 16,341 call options—528% above the typical daily volume of 2,603.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: 10 analysts rate the stock a Buy and two rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $29.36.
• Magnite reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $0.26 EPS versus a $0.24 estimate and $192.82 million in revenue, up 11.3% year over year; however, insiders sold $15.8 million of stock over the past three months.

Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 16,341 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 528% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,603 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MGNI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Magnite from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Magnite from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Magnite from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Magnite in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Magnite in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Magnite currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Katie Evans sold 32,285 shares of Magnite stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $762,894.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 466,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,032,776.11. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Barrett sold 293,968 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total value of $6,678,952.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 403,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,157,841.28. The trade was a 42.17% 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. Insiders sold 672,759 shares of company stock worth $15,780,319 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magnite

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Magnite by 63.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,567 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Magnite by 20.1% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Magnite by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd now owns 200,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Magnite during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, EFG International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Magnite during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.40% of the company's stock.

Magnite Price Performance

Shares of Magnite stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.79. 503,919 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,524,165. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 2.33. The firm's fifty day moving average is $23.71 and its 200-day moving average is $18.26. Magnite has a 52 week low of $10.82 and a 52 week high of $26.84.

Magnite (NASDAQ:MGNI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Magnite had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 22.49%.The business had revenue of $192.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Magnite's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Magnite will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Magnite Company Profile

Magnite, Inc is an independent sell-side advertising technology company that helps publishers, broadcasters and other content owners monetize digital advertising inventory. Its platform connects sellers of advertising space with brands, agencies and demand-side platforms, facilitating the automated buying and selling of ads across connected television (CTV), streaming video, mobile applications, websites, audio and digital out-of-home media.

The company offers tools for managing, packaging and selling advertising inventory, including programmatic auctions, direct and private marketplace transactions, audience targeting, yield optimization and measurement.

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