Hello Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:MOMO)

Hello Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MOMO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 4,838 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 390% compared to the typical daily volume of 988 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Hello Group from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com cut Hello Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut Hello Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Hello Group from $6.40 to $5.70 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Hello Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hello Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.90.

Hello Group Stock Up 5.1 %

MOMO stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $6.43. The stock had a trading volume of 564,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,747. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $931.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.51. Hello Group has a 52-week low of $4.79 and a 52-week high of $11.12.

Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The information services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.02. Hello Group had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.61%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Hello Group’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hello Group will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hello Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 8.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOMO. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hello Group in the second quarter worth $74,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hello Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $355,000. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Hello Group by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,971 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Hello Group by 26.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,377,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,781,000 after buying an additional 1,538,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hello Group by 9.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 458,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,889,000 after buying an additional 40,566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.96% of the company’s stock.

Hello Group Company Profile

Hello Group Inc provides mobile-based social and entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. It operates in three segments: Momo, Tantan, and QOOL. The company offers Momo, a mobile application that connects people and facilitates social interactions based on location, interests, and various online recreational activities, including live talent shows, short videos, social games, as well as other video- and audio-based interactive experiences, such as online parties, mobile karaoke and user participated reality shows; Tantan, a social and dating application; and other applications under the Hertz, Soulchill, Duidui, and Tietie names.