Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Chegg (NYSE:CHGG)

Chegg, Inc. (NYSE:CHGG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 4,860 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 169% compared to the average daily volume of 1,806 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chegg

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Chegg by 152.3% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 33,910 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 20,468 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Chegg in the 1st quarter worth about $265,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Chegg in the 1st quarter worth about $12,124,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Chegg by 280.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,345 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 14,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Chegg in the 1st quarter worth about $275,000. 95.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CHGG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Chegg from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Chegg from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Chegg from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Chegg to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Chegg from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chegg currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.00.

Chegg Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CHGG opened at $7.10 on Friday. Chegg has a fifty-two week low of $6.63 and a fifty-two week high of $18.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $730.42 million, a P/E ratio of -44.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.26.

Chegg (NYSE:CHGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The technology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Chegg had a net margin of 2.54% and a return on equity of 1.27%. The business had revenue of $187.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Chegg will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Chegg Company Profile

Chegg, Inc operates a direct-to-student learning platform that helps learners build essential life and job skills to accelerate their path from learning programs in the United States and internationally. Its subscription services include Chegg Study, which offers personalized step-by-step learning support from AI, computational engines, and subject matter experts, as well as Tinger Gold and DashPash Student services; Chegg Writing that provides students with a suite of tools, such as plagiarism detection scans, grammar and writing fluency checking, expert personalized writing feedback, and premium citation generation; Chegg Math, a step-by-step math problem solver and calculator that helps students to solve problems; Chegg Study Pack, a bundle of various subscription product offerings, including Chegg Study, Chegg Writing, and Chegg Math services; and Busuu, an online language learning platform that offers comprehensive support through self-paced lessons, live classes with expert tutors, and a community of members to practice alongside.