Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS)

Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 2,325 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 304% compared to the average daily volume of 575 call options.

Progress Software Price Performance

Shares of Progress Software stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.59. 96,291 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 555,875. Progress Software has a twelve month low of $48.00 and a twelve month high of $70.56. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $55.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 31st. The software maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $238.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.64 million. Progress Software had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 41.56%. The company's revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Progress Software will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRGS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Progress Software in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Progress Software from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Progress Software from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Progress Software from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Domenic Lococo sold 1,000 shares of Progress Software stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $56,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $242,000.72. This trade represents a 18.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ian Pitt sold 703 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.29, for a total value of $39,571.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,163.93. The trade was a 7.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,613 shares of company stock worth $1,107,403 over the last 90 days. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progress Software

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progress Software by 149.5% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 494 shares of the software maker's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progress Software during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progress Software by 893.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 765 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Progress Software by 25.0% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,629 shares of the software maker's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Progress Software by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the software maker's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter.

Progress Software Company Profile

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers.