Traders Purchase High Volume of XP Put Options (NASDAQ:XP)

XP Inc. (NASDAQ:XP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 98,426 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 585% compared to the average volume of 14,378 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XP has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of XP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on XP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Itau BBA Securities raised XP from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on XP from $26.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.40.

Insider Transactions at XP

In other news, Director Bruno Constantino Alexandre dos Santos sold 123,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total transaction of $2,413,372.06. Following the sale, the director owned 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,370,000. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Institutional Trading of XP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XP. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of XP by 46.2% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in XP by 117.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in XP in the second quarter worth about $91,000. Strategic Investment Advisors MI purchased a new stake in shares of XP during the first quarter valued at $126,000. Finally, 9823 Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of XP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Institutional investors own 59.15% of the company’s stock.

XP Stock Performance

Shares of XP stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.53. 14,268,633 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,488,495. XP has a 12 month low of $14.80 and a 12 month high of $30.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 4.80 and a current ratio of 4.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.01.

XP (NASDAQ:XP) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 17th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $943.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $935.15 million. XP had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 27.20%.XP’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that XP will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

About XP

XP Inc is a Brazil-based financial services platform that provides investment, banking and related financial products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Through its digital platforms and network of financial professionals, the company offers access to investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, real estate funds, retirement products and insurance.

The company operates a portfolio of brands that includes XP, Rico and Clear, serving customers with different investment needs and levels of experience.