NU Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NU)

Nu Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NU) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 117,288 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 40% compared to the average daily volume of 83,677 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NU news, insider Henrique Camossa Sald Fragelli sold 221,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.81, for a total transaction of $3,505,187.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 979,446 shares in the company, valued at $15,485,041.26. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cristina Helena Zing Junqueira sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.71, for a total value of $956,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,542,083 shares in the company, valued at $37,394,040.93. This trade represents a 2.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 361,707 shares of company stock valued at $5,626,338. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NU

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NU. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of NU by 14,810.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of NU in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in NU in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in NU by 433.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in NU during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NU. UBS Group raised their price objective on NU from $16.90 to $18.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NU in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of NU from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NU from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of NU from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NU currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.91.

NU Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NU stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.54. 23,056,802 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,972,375. NU has a fifty-two week low of $11.20 and a fifty-two week high of $18.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.12 and its 200-day moving average is $14.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $75.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.94.

NU (NYSE:NU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter. NU had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 18.65%.The firm had revenue of $5.88 billion for the quarter. Analysts predict that NU will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NU announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

NU Company Profile

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.