Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Ichor Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:ICHR) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 2,629 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 207% compared to the typical daily volume of 855 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Philip Barros, Jr. sold 1,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $81,310.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 161,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,997,456.56. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Bruce Ragsdale sold 10,587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.93, for a total transaction of $549,782.91. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 92,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,794,385.32. The trade was a 10.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 46,740 shares of company stock valued at $2,602,960 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ichor

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Ichor by 100.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 252 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Ichor by 125.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 421 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ichor by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ichor by 127.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ichor during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Ichor from $88.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on Ichor from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on Ichor in a research report on Friday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ichor from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on Ichor in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.44.

Ichor Trading Up 8.5%

NASDAQ:ICHR traded up $3.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $38.27. 225,668 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,964. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 765.63 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.60. Ichor has a 52-week low of $14.07 and a 52-week high of $113.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $328.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.15 million. Ichor had a net margin of 0.32% and a return on equity of 3.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ichor will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

About Ichor

Ichor Holdings, Ltd. designs, engineers and manufactures fluid delivery systems and components used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Its products include gas and chemical delivery subsystems, gas panels, precision-machined parts and welded assemblies that help equipment makers control and deliver process materials used to manufacture semiconductor wafers. The company primarily serves original equipment manufacturers in the semiconductor capital equipment industry, supporting customers with manufacturing and engineering operations across multiple regions.