Traders Buy High Volume of Siga Technologies Call Options (NASDAQ:SIGA)

Siga Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGA) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,200 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,438% compared to the average volume of 78 call options.

Institutional Trading of Siga Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Siga Technologies by 744.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 211,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 186,067 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Siga Technologies by 66.5% in the third quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 596,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,458,000 after acquiring an additional 238,255 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Siga Technologies in the third quarter worth $966,000. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Siga Technologies by 9.8% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 418,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,828,000 after acquiring an additional 37,342 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Siga Technologies in the third quarter worth $468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Siga Technologies from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Siga Technologies Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of Siga Technologies stock opened at $4.31 on Thursday. Siga Technologies has a 12-month low of $4.29 and a 12-month high of $9.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.05.

Siga Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Siga Technologies had a net margin of 21.58% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $6.24 million for the quarter.

Siga Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 7th.

About Siga Technologies

Siga Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: SIGA) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of medical countermeasures for public health emergencies and biological threats. The company’s flagship product, TPOXX® (tecovirimat), is the first and only antiviral approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of smallpox. Siga has entered into procurement and development contracts with U.S. government agencies, including the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Department of Defense, to supply TPOXX® for the Strategic National Stockpile.

Founded in 2002, Siga has built a pipeline of therapies targeting high-consequence pathogens such as smallpox, plague and other potential biothreat agents.