Traders Purchase Large Volume of Trade Desk Call Options (NASDAQ:TTD)

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 83,354 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 41% compared to the average volume of 59,156 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trade Desk

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Trade Desk by 27.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,875,852 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,787,486,000 after buying an additional 12,321,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 271.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,354,274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,781,723,000 after acquiring an additional 26,559,005 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Trade Desk by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,267,457 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,027,114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169,252 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 52.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,314,817 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $884,860,000 after purchasing an additional 4,218,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 2.7% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 8,323,522 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $599,212,000 after purchasing an additional 221,228 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TTD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down from $55.00) on shares of Trade Desk in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $40.00 target price on Trade Desk and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Trade Desk in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $84.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Trade Desk from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.58.

Trade Desk News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Trade Desk this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TTD launched the Ventura Ecosystem to link TV OSes and streaming platforms with its monetization and transparency tools, which management says should boost CTV transparency and CPMs and support continued CTV revenue momentum. Trade Desk Unveils Ventura Ecosystem to Elevate CTV Advertising
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on TTD’s upcoming quarterly report — analysts and traders say the revenue growth rate is the single most important metric to determine whether the recent sell-off reflects a durable slowdown or a buying opportunity. The Trade Desk Faces Its Most Important Revenue Test After a 67% Collapse
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and technical chatter show both bullish setups (RSI divergences, fading downside momentum) and warnings that the stock needs a strong top-line print to sustain any rebound — positioning is mixed ahead of the print. TTD Opinions on Upcoming Q4 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and sell-side notes flag rising competition and the risk of ad spend consolidating in closed platform ecosystems; Wedbush kept a Neutral rating but cut its 12-month price target to $23, reflecting those headwinds. The Trade Desk faces rising competition ahead of Q4 earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Significant institutional repositioning and notable insider/hedge-fund selling have pressured sentiment — several large managers trimmed holdings in Q4 and some high-profile investors exited, increasing downside risk if the quarter disappoints. TTD Opinions on Upcoming Q4 Earnings (institutional activity)

Trade Desk Stock Performance

Shares of TTD stock traded up $0.22 on Wednesday, hitting $25.16. 24,657,416 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,967,783. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.34. Trade Desk has a one year low of $23.78 and a one year high of $91.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.10.

Trade Desk announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Trade Desk Company Profile

The Trade Desk, Inc (NASDAQ: TTD) is a technology company that provides a demand-side platform (DSP) for programmatic digital advertising. Its platform enables advertisers, agencies and other buyers to plan, purchase and measure ad inventory across digital channels, including display, video, mobile, audio, native and connected TV. By centralizing real?time bidding, audience targeting and inventory access, the company aims to help clients optimize media spend and reach audiences at scale across publishers and ad exchanges.

Founded in 2009 by Jeff Green and Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk grew from a focus on programmatic display into a global ad?tech provider.