Sabre Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:SABR)

Sabre Co. (NASDAQ:SABR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 15,645 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 382% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,249 put options.

Sabre Trading Up 15.8 %

Shares of SABR traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $2.54. The company had a trading volume of 9,744,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,421,202. Sabre has a one year low of $1.93 and a one year high of $4.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.41. The company has a market capitalization of $978.69 million, a PE ratio of -3.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Sabre (NASDAQ:SABR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The information technology services provider reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $714.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.60 million. Analysts forecast that Sabre will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Sabre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $4.50 to $6.10 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Sabre in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Sabre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Sabre from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $3.50 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Sabre from $5.00 to $3.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.28.

Institutional Trading of Sabre

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Sabre by 375.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,530,073 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,615,000 after buying an additional 1,208,269 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sabre during the fourth quarter valued at about $123,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Sabre by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 786,425 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,885,000 after purchasing an additional 267,778 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Sabre by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,654,980 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $9,691,000 after purchasing an additional 194,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Sabre by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,673,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,109,000 after purchasing an additional 30,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.42% of the company’s stock.

Sabre Company Profile

Sabre Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as software and technology company for travel industry in the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Travel Solutions and Hospitality Solutions. The Travel Solutions segment operates a business-to-business travel marketplace that offers travel content, such as inventory, prices, and availability from a range of travel suppliers, including airlines, hotels, car rental brands, rail carriers, cruise lines, and tour operators with a network of travel buyers comprising online and offline travel agencies, travel management companies, and corporate travel departments.