Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Amkor Technology (NASDAQ:AMKR)

Key Points

• Put-option activity surged: Traders bought 21,109 put options on Amkor Technology, 161% above the typical volume of 8,088, signaling increased bearish or hedging activity.
• Shares remained under pressure: Amkor stock fell to $38.64, well below its 50-day moving average of $49.29 and 200-day moving average of $61.79, despite reporting quarterly earnings and revenue above analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: The stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $66.22 average price target, while recent actions included a price-target cut and downgrade to “hold” from some analysts. Insiders have also sold 46,221 shares worth about $2.54 million over the past 90 days.

Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMKR - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 21,109 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 161% compared to the typical volume of 8,088 put options.

Insider Activity

In other Amkor Technology news, Director Douglas A. Alexander sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 29,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,600,995. The trade was a 14.66% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Kevin K. Engel sold 3,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $151,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,666 shares in the company, valued at $454,302. This represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,221 shares of company stock valued at $2,538,507. 26.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amkor Technology

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Amkor Technology during the 2nd quarter worth $1,060,005,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Amkor Technology during the second quarter worth about $152,110,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Amkor Technology by 19.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,622,744 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $118,107,000 after acquiring an additional 423,629 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Amkor Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,656,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in Amkor Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,273,000. 42.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amkor Technology Price Performance

Shares of Amkor Technology stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.64. The stock had a trading volume of 4,866,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,787,057. The stock's 50 day moving average is $49.29 and its 200 day moving average is $61.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Amkor Technology has a twelve month low of $29.50 and a twelve month high of $96.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 2.21.

Amkor Technology (NASDAQ:AMKR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. Amkor Technology had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 7.45%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amkor Technology will post 2.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amkor Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.0835 per share. This represents a $0.33 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 2nd. Amkor Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on Amkor Technology from $65.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Amkor Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Amkor Technology from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Amkor Technology from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Amkor Technology from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.22.

About Amkor Technology

Amkor Technology, Inc is a provider of outsourced semiconductor packaging and test services. The company helps semiconductor manufacturers and electronics companies assemble, package and test integrated circuits before they are incorporated into finished electronic products.

Amkor's services include wafer bumping, wafer-level packaging, flip-chip packaging, system-in-package solutions, fan-out packaging, leadframe and laminate-based packaging, and semiconductor testing. Its products and services support applications including mobile and consumer electronics, communications, automotive, computing, industrial equipment, and memory devices.

Founded in 1968, Amkor has grown into a global semiconductor supply-chain partner with manufacturing and testing operations across regions including Asia, Europe and the United States.

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