Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on IAC (NASDAQ:IAC)

IAC Inc. (NASDAQ:IAC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 2,790 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 634% compared to the typical volume of 380 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IAC

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of IAC by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,568,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,313 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of IAC by 73.8% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,517,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,015,000 after buying an additional 1,069,044 shares in the last quarter. Patient Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of IAC by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Patient Capital Management LLC now owns 2,108,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,828,000 after buying an additional 369,239 shares during the period. Helikon Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of IAC during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $76,056,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in IAC by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,148,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,122,000 after acquiring an additional 349,969 shares during the period. 88.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IAC Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IAC traded down $0.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.78. 250,466 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 748,867. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.57 and a beta of 1.10. IAC has a 12-month low of $29.56 and a 12-month high of $50.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

IAC (NASDAQ:IAC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.03). IAC had a negative return on equity of 4.61% and a negative net margin of 8.27%.The company had revenue of $589.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $601.86 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.93) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that IAC will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on IAC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on IAC from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lowered IAC from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of IAC from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of IAC from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of IAC from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.67.

About IAC

IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in New York City that builds and invests in consumer-focused internet businesses. Through its portfolio of digital media brands, online marketplaces and subscription services, IAC delivers content and connections across a range of verticals, including lifestyle, finance, home services and personal care. The company’s operations span North America and parts of Europe, where its brands reach millions of visitors each month.

In the digital publishing space, IAC’s Dotdash Meredith division develops original content and data‐driven journalism across more than a dozen specialty sites.