Penguin Solutions Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PENG)

Key Points

• Unusually high options activity: Investors bought 6,537 call options (a 378% jump versus average), and the stock rose to $37.79 on heavy volume of 1.66M shares.
• Insider selling: SVPs Joseph Gates Clark and Anne Kuykendall sold 12,546 and 4,000 shares respectively (transactions under Rule 10b5-1); insiders sold 30,115 shares totaling about $724K and now own 2.90% of the company.
• Earnings beat and analyst view: Q1 EPS of $0.52 topped estimates ($0.43) and revenue was $343M vs. $339M expected; the stock has a $1.92B market cap, a P/E of 52.5, and a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $27.25 target.

Penguin Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENG - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 6,537 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 378% compared to the average daily volume of 1,369 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Penguin Solutions

In other Penguin Solutions news, SVP Joseph Gates Clark sold 12,546 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.55, for a total transaction of $282,912.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 99,726 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,248,821.30. This trade represents a 11.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Anne Kuykendall sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total transaction of $71,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 131,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,331,498. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,115 shares of company stock valued at $723,997. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Penguin Solutions

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Penguin Solutions by 187.0% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Penguin Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Penguin Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Penguin Solutions by 4,131.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Penguin Solutions by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period.

Penguin Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Penguin Solutions stock traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,660,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,183. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $21.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.10. Penguin Solutions has a one year low of $16.04 and a one year high of $37.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.50 and a beta of 2.66.

Penguin Solutions (NASDAQ:PENG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $343.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.00 million. Penguin Solutions had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 19.94%. As a group, analysts expect that Penguin Solutions will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Penguin Solutions from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Penguin Solutions from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays downgraded shares of Penguin Solutions from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Penguin Solutions from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Penguin Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.25.

Penguin Solutions Company Profile

Penguin Solutions, Inc engages in the designing and development of enterprise solutions worldwide. It operates through three segments: Advanced Computing, Integrated Memory, and Optimized LED. It offers dynamic random access memory modules, solid-state and flash storage, and other advanced integrated memory solutions for networking and telecom, data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications; and supply chain services, including procurement, logistics, inventory management, temporary warehousing, programming, kitting, and packaging services.

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