Boeing Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:BA)

The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 168,263 put options on the company. This is an increase of 71% compared to the average daily volume of 98,311 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BA. Bank of America lifted their target price on Boeing from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Boeing in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Boeing from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Boeing from $300.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Boeing from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Boeing currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boeing

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Boeing by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,880,647 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock worth $4,400,109,000 after buying an additional 4,425,964 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Boeing by 563.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,439,093 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock valued at $896,434,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921,043 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Boeing by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,823,006 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock worth $2,560,466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,850 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Boeing during the 1st quarter worth about $272,312,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Boeing by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,724,770 shares of the aircraft producer’s stock valued at $9,596,383,000 after buying an additional 1,222,816 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.82% of the company’s stock.

Boeing Stock Performance

NYSE:BA traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $154.71. 7,487,485 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,931,724. Boeing has a twelve month low of $154.02 and a twelve month high of $267.54. The firm has a market cap of $94.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.75 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $172.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.23.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The aircraft producer reported ($2.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.00) by ($1.90). The firm had revenue of $16.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.82) EPS. Boeing’s revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Boeing will post -4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

About Boeing

The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services worldwide. The company operates through Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; and Global Services segments.