Amarin Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:AMRN)

Amarin Co. plc (NASDAQ:AMRN – Get Rating) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 9,685 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 869% compared to the average daily volume of 1,000 call options.

Amarin Trading Up 16.2 %

Shares of Amarin stock opened at $1.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.29. The company has a market cap of $694.59 million, a P/E ratio of -7.48 and a beta of 1.73. Amarin has a 1 year low of $1.04 and a 1 year high of $3.82.

Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $89.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.93 million. Amarin had a negative return on equity of 14.92% and a negative net margin of 21.72%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amarin will post -0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amarin

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Amarin by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 73,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 17,042 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Amarin by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,789,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,758,000 after purchasing an additional 42,012 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Amarin by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 880,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,895,000 after purchasing an additional 7,994 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Amarin by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 172,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 12,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarissa Capital Management LP increased its position in Amarin by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Sarissa Capital Management LP now owns 24,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $78,960,000 after purchasing an additional 4,750,000 shares during the last quarter. 31.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMRN. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Amarin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $1.30 to $3.00 in a report on Friday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Amarin from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 28th. Finally, SVB Leerink reduced their target price on Amarin from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.38.

About Amarin

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Amarin Corporation plc, a pharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Germany, Canada, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. Its lead product is VASCEPA, a prescription-only omega-3 fatty acid product, used as an adjunct to diet for reducing triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia.