Valens Semiconductor Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:VLN)

Key Points

• Unusually high options activity: Investors bought 3,627 call options on Thursday — a 279% increase over the average of 957 — as the stock rose to $1.96 on a volume surge of 33,181,679 shares versus its 2,070,604 average.
• Institutional accumulation: Several hedge funds (including JPMorgan, Marshall Wace and Oppenheimer) increased stakes recently, leaving institutions with about 33.9% ownership and a market capitalization around $202 million.
• Mixed fundamentals and analyst view: The consensus rating is "Hold" with a $3.00 target; the company missed EPS (-$0.04 vs. -$0.03) but beat revenue and remains unprofitable with a -44.72% net margin and negative ROE.

Valens Semiconductor, Ltd. (NYSE:VLN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 3,627 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 279% compared to the average daily volume of 957 call options.

Institutional Trading of Valens Semiconductor

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VLN. Creative Planning bought a new stake in shares of Valens Semiconductor during the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Valens Semiconductor by 417.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 86,081 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 69,439 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Valens Semiconductor by 84.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 520,062 shares of the company's stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 238,228 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valens Semiconductor by 116.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 541,148 shares of the company's stock worth $969,000 after acquiring an additional 291,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IGP Investments G.P.L.P LP lifted its holdings in shares of Valens Semiconductor by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. IGP Investments G.P.L.P LP now owns 3,489,790 shares of the company's stock worth $6,247,000 after acquiring an additional 29,790 shares during the last quarter. 33.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on VLN shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valens Semiconductor from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Valens Semiconductor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $3.00.

Valens Semiconductor Price Performance

NYSE:VLN traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $1.96. The stock had a trading volume of 33,181,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,604. Valens Semiconductor has a one year low of $1.10 and a one year high of $3.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.24 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.57.

Valens Semiconductor (NYSE:VLN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.01). Valens Semiconductor had a negative return on equity of 27.00% and a negative net margin of 44.72%.The company had revenue of $19.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valens Semiconductor will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Valens Semiconductor Company Profile

Valens Semiconductor Corp. is a provider of high-speed connectivity solutions, specializing in semiconductor chipsets that enable the transmission of uncompressed video, audio and data over common cabling such as twisted-pair and coax. The company's flagship technology, HDBaseT, supports the simultaneous delivery of multiple signal types—including HDMI, USB, Ethernet and power—over a single cable. This multi-service approach addresses the growing demands of both consumer electronics and automotive infotainment systems, where bandwidth, reliability and low latency are critical.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Israel, Valens maintains research and development operations across North America, Europe and Asia.

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