Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB)

Grab Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GRAB) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 39,023 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 38% compared to the average volume of 28,379 call options.

Grab Trading Down 5.1%

GRAB traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.08. 49,065,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,528,195. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.89. Grab has a 12-month low of $3.07 and a 12-month high of $6.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.61 and a 200 day moving average of $3.68.

Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $997.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.97 million. Grab had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 8.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Grab will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GRAB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Grab in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Grab from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Grab from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $6.25 price objective on shares of Grab in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Grab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Grab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Alexander Hungate sold 145,349 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.48, for a total transaction of $505,814.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,111,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,269,686.92. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Chin Ong sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.61, for a total transaction of $137,180.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,670,611 shares in the company, valued at $13,250,905.71. The trade was a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,763,442 shares of company stock worth $6,405,495 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in Grab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Grab by 305.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 4,601 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Grab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Grab by 162,500.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Grab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.52% of the company’s stock.

About Grab

Grab Holdings Inc is a Singapore-based technology company that operates a consumer-facing “super app” across Southeast Asia offering services spanning ride-hailing, food and package delivery, and digital payments. Its platform connects consumers, drivers, merchants and delivery partners through mobile applications and supports on-demand mobility (taxi and private car), last-mile logistics, and on-demand food delivery under brands such as GrabFood and GrabExpress. The company has also developed a merchant-facing ecosystem that supports ordering, payment acceptance and loyalty functions.

Beyond transportation and delivery, Grab has expanded into financial services through Grab Financial Group, which provides digital payments via GrabPay, consumer lending, insurance distribution and small-business financial solutions.