Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of VMware Call Options (NYSE:VMW)

VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW – Get Rating) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 64,726 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 2,143% compared to the average volume of 2,886 call options.

VMware Price Performance

VMW opened at $124.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.15. VMware has a 12-month low of $103.55 and a 12-month high of $132.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $123.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.99.

VMware (NYSE:VMW – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The virtualization software provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.13. VMware had a return on equity of 327.30% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Equities analysts predict that VMware will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at VMware

In other VMware news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 35,715 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.53, for a total transaction of $4,447,588.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,688,393.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 40.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VMware

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in VMware by 2.1% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,938 shares of the virtualization software provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in VMware by 0.6% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 14,966 shares of the virtualization software provider’s stock worth $1,868,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in VMware by 13.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 710 shares of the virtualization software provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in VMware by 75.4% in the first quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 200 shares of the virtualization software provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in VMware by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,531 shares of the virtualization software provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on VMware from $142.50 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on VMware from $142.50 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of VMware in a report on Thursday, April 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on VMware from $131.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of VMware in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, VMware presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.70.

VMware Company Profile

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VMware, Inc engages in the provision of cloud infrastructure and business mobility. Its products include Software-Defined Data Center, Hybrid Cloud Computing, and End-User Computing. It supports modernizing data centers, integrating public clouds, empowering digital workspaces and transforming security.