Stock Traders Buy High Volume of TechnipFMC Put Options (NYSE:FTI)

TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 19,414 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 766% compared to the average daily volume of 2,243 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carvalho Filho Eleazar De sold 12,491 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $264,809.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 103,982 shares in the company, valued at $2,204,418.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TechnipFMC

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of TechnipFMC by 366.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of TechnipFMC in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of TechnipFMC in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of TechnipFMC by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,770 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of TechnipFMC in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.58% of the company’s stock.

TechnipFMC Price Performance

Shares of TechnipFMC stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Monday, hitting $25.41. 1,264,368 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,789,722. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of 215.52 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.16. TechnipFMC has a twelve month low of $12.64 and a twelve month high of $27.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. TechnipFMC had a return on equity of 6.37% and a net margin of 0.72%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.05) EPS. TechnipFMC’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that TechnipFMC will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

TechnipFMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. TechnipFMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 166.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on FTI. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (up previously from $25.00) on shares of TechnipFMC in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of TechnipFMC in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of TechnipFMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of TechnipFMC from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of TechnipFMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $23.60 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.34.

About TechnipFMC

TechnipFMC plc engages in the energy projects, technologies, and systems and services businesses in Europe, Central Asia, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Subsea and Surface Technologies. The Subsea segment engages in the design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing, fabrication, installation, and life of field services for subsea systems, subsea field infrastructure, and subsea pipe systems used in oil and gas production and transportation.