SEA (NYSE:SE) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Sea Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:SE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 38,333 call options on the company. This is an increase of 307% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,428 call options.

SEA Stock Performance

Shares of SE stock traded up $2.29 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $78.02. 9,013,904 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,098,675. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.82. SEA has a 52-week low of $71.53 and a 52-week high of $159.09.

SEA (NYSE:SE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The Internet company based in Singapore reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.16). SEA had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. SEA’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that SEA will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other SEA news, CEO Xiaodong Li sold 1,057,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.80, for a total value of $137,282,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 288,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,440,810. This represents a 78.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Gang Ye sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.35, for a total transaction of $3,880,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 430,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,620,500. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,984,086 shares of company stock valued at $241,395,898 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SEA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in SEA by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 6,405 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in SEA by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 16,837 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in SEA by 3.2% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 5,151 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in SEA by 6.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in SEA by 26.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 831 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 59.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of SEA in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SEA from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of SEA in a research note on Monday, August 17th. New Street Research downgraded shares of SEA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of SEA from a “sector perform” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.73.

About SEA

Sea Limited is a Singapore-based technology company operating digital entertainment, e-commerce and digital financial services businesses. Founded in 2009 as Garena, the company adopted the name Sea Limited in 2017.

Its digital entertainment business, Garena, publishes and develops online games and also provides a platform for users to access games and connect with other players. Shopee, Sea’s e-commerce platform, serves consumers and merchants in Southeast Asia and other markets, including Taiwan and parts of Latin America.

Sea also provides digital financial services through Monee, formerly known as SeaMoney.