Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR)

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 12,847 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 240% compared to the average daily volume of 3,780 call options.

Avis Budget Group Trading Up 0.7 %

CAR opened at $74.66 on Friday. Avis Budget Group has a 12 month low of $54.03 and a 12 month high of $132.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.70. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.44 and a beta of 2.37.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.27. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 15.45%. Equities research analysts forecast that Avis Budget Group will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Avis Budget Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avis Budget Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avis Budget Group

In other news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 1,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $133,475.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,250. This represents a 41.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 52.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in Avis Budget Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,354,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $293,825,000 after purchasing an additional 129,805 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 672,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,880,000 after purchasing an additional 16,221 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 490,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,537,000 after buying an additional 236,576 shares during the period. JAT Capital Mgmt LP raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 24.5% in the third quarter. JAT Capital Mgmt LP now owns 398,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,876,000 after buying an additional 78,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 379,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,616,000 after buying an additional 221,456 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc engages in the provision of vehicle sharing and rental services. It operates through the following segments: Americas, International, and Corporate and Other. The Americas segment includes the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.