Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on NU (NYSE:NU)

Nu Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 123,974 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 67% compared to the average volume of 74,309 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 21,000 shares of NU stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.24, for a total transaction of $257,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 162,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,984,716. This trade represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NU

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NU by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 12,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NU by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 16,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in NU by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 50,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in NU by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 51,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NU by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.02% of the company’s stock.

NU Stock Performance

Shares of NU traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $14.03. 160,438,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 59,477,734. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $12.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.77. NU has a 12-month low of $11.20 and a 12-month high of $18.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.95.

NU (NYSE:NU) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 15th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $5.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. NU had a return on equity of 30.91% and a net margin of 18.20%. Equities analysts anticipate that NU will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NU announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded NU from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on NU in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NU from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of NU from $18.10 to $16.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered shares of NU from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NU presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.24.

About NU

Nu Holdings Ltd (NYSE: NU), commonly known by its consumer brand Nubank, is a Latin American financial technology company that provides digital banking and financial services through a mobile-first platform. The company’s core offerings include no-fee digital checking accounts, credit cards, personal loans, payments and transfers, and a range of savings and investment products. Nubank emphasizes a streamlined customer experience delivered via its smartphone app, combined with data-driven underwriting and automated customer service tools.

Founded in 2013 by David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible, Nu grew rapidly by targeting underbanked and digitally savvy consumers in Latin America with low-fee, transparent products.