Magnite Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MGNI)

Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 7,939 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 99% compared to the typical volume of 3,987 call options.

Magnite Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MGNI traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.14. The company had a trading volume of 3,800,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,242,680. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Magnite has a 1 year low of $8.38 and a 1 year high of $21.29. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 318.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.81.

Insider Transactions at Magnite

In related news, CAO Brian Gephart sold 2,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total value of $33,633.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 112,795 shares in the company, valued at $1,759,602. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO David Buonasera sold 1,969 shares of Magnite stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.31, for a total transaction of $32,114.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 223,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,096.45. The trade was a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 571,458 shares of company stock valued at $10,237,160 in the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MGNI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Magnite by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,605,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,593,000 after acquiring an additional 257,032 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Magnite by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,030,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,918,000 after purchasing an additional 450,341 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Magnite by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,756,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Magnite by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,968,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,118,000 after buying an additional 63,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Magnite by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,873,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,831,000 after buying an additional 146,974 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Magnite from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Magnite in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Magnite in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Magnite in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Magnite from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.35.

About Magnite

Magnite, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an independent omni-channel sell-side advertising platform in the United States and internationally. The company’s platform offers applications and services for sellers of digital advertising inventory or publishers that own and operate CTV channels, applications, websites, and other digital media properties to manage and monetize their inventory; and applications and services for buyers, including advertisers, agencies, agency trading desks, and demand side platforms to buy digital advertising inventory, as well as an independent marketplace that connects buyers and sellers.