Traders Purchase Large Volume of Compass Put Options (NYSE:COMP)

Key Points

• Put-option activity surged: Investors purchased 11,745 Compass put options, approximately 146% above the typical volume of 4,767, signaling heightened bearish or hedging interest.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: Recent price targets were raised by Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Barclays, while Compass carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $13.12 target price.
• Shares fell 3.3% to $11.48 despite the company beating quarterly earnings and revenue estimates; CEO Robert Reffkin also sold 23,456 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Compass, Inc. (NYSE:COMP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 11,745 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 146% compared to the typical volume of 4,767 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COMP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Compass from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Compass from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Compass from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Compass from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Compass from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.12.

Compass Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:COMP traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.48. The company had a trading volume of 5,096,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,977,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Compass has a one year low of $6.37 and a one year high of $13.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 574.25 and a beta of 2.35.

Compass (NYSE:COMP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.20. Compass had a net margin of 0.17% and a return on equity of 1.11%. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.67 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Compass will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Compass

In related news, CEO Robert L. Reffkin sold 23,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.51, for a total value of $293,434.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 7,781,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,342,862.04. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Compass Company Profile

Compass, Inc is a technology-driven real estate brokerage firm that provides a full suite of services for home buyers, sellers and renters. Utilizing a proprietary software platform, the company equips its network of licensed real estate agents with data analytics, marketing automation and client relationship tools designed to enhance efficiency and transaction transparency.

Founded in 2012 by Ori Allon and Robert Reffkin, Compass has grown from a single office in New York City to serve more than 300 markets across the United States.

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