Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on XP (NASDAQ:XP)

Key Points

• XP saw unusually heavy bearish options activity: Investors purchased 98,426 put options, roughly 585% above the typical volume of 14,378 contracts.
• Director Bruno Constantino Alexandre dos Santos sold 123,257 shares for approximately $2.4 million, reducing his direct ownership by 7.59%. Institutional investors own 59.15% of XP’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable: XP has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $26.40, while JPMorgan raised its target to $38.00 and maintained an “overweight” rating.

XP Inc. (NASDAQ:XP - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 98,426 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 585% compared to the typical volume of 14,378 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at XP

In other XP news, Director Bruno Constantino Alexandre dos Santos sold 123,257 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total value of $2,413,372.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,370,000. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of XP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of XP by 46.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in XP by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 89,121 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of XP by 117.3% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,288 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC increased its holdings in shares of XP by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 36,176 shares of the company's stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of XP by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 53,884 shares of the company's stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.15% of the company's stock.

XP Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XP traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.53. The company had a trading volume of 14,268,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,488,495. The company has a current ratio of 4.80, a quick ratio of 4.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. XP has a 1 year low of $14.80 and a 1 year high of $30.22. The company has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $18.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.03.

XP (NASDAQ:XP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 17th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. XP had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 27.20%.The business had revenue of $943.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $935.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that XP will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised XP from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on XP from $26.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of XP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised XP from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, XP presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.40.

About XP

XP Inc is a Brazil-based financial services platform that provides investment, banking and related financial products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Through its digital platforms and network of financial professionals, the company offers access to investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, real estate funds, retirement products and insurance.

The company operates a portfolio of brands that includes XP, Rico and Clear, serving customers with different investment needs and levels of experience.

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