Coupang Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CPNG)

Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 43,998 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 97% compared to the average daily volume of 22,386 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CPNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Coupang from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Coupang from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Coupang from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Coupang from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Coupang from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coupang presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.70.

Coupang Trading Up 10.8%

CPNG opened at $20.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.35 billion, a PE ratio of 170.39 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Coupang has a 12-month low of $16.74 and a 12-month high of $34.08.

Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $8.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. Coupang had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 4.52%. The company’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Coupang will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Coupang

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Lee sold 2,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.62, for a total transaction of $63,277.98. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,883,907.52. This trade represents a 2.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Neil Mehta purchased 2,332,863 shares of Coupang stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.40 per share, for a total transaction of $42,924,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 55,310,977 shares in the company, valued at $1,017,721,976.80. This represents a 4.40% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders bought 7,350,104 shares of company stock valued at $136,566,051. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coupang

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Coupang in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Coupang by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 75,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,742,000 after buying an additional 9,095 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Coupang by 140.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,482,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,154,000 after buying an additional 865,386 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Coupang in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,245,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Coupang in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 83.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Coupang

Coupang, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CPNG, is a South Korean e-commerce company headquartered in Seoul. Founded in 2010 by Bom Kim, the company grew rapidly by combining an online marketplace with a large direct-retail business model. Coupang completed a primary listing in the United States in 2021, and it has become one of South Korea’s leading online retailers by focusing on convenience, speed and a wide product assortment across consumer categories.

The company operates a vertically integrated e-commerce platform that includes a customer-facing marketplace and an extensive logistics and fulfillment network.