Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Coupang (NYSE:CPNG)

Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 42,258 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 73% compared to the typical volume of 24,406 call options.

Coupang Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Coupang stock traded up $0.05 on Monday, reaching $15.20. The company had a trading volume of 13,866,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,247,885. Coupang has a 1 year low of $14.92 and a 1 year high of $34.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $27.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -168.67 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.51.

Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.06). Coupang had a negative return on equity of 3.67% and a negative net margin of 0.47%.The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. Coupang’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Coupang will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Neil Mehta purchased 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.68 per share, for a total transaction of $56,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 52,978,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,631,169.52. This represents a 6.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders purchased 7,350,104 shares of company stock worth $136,566,051. Company insiders own 12.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coupang

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of Coupang by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 49,233,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,161,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285,600 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Coupang by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 41,131,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,340,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977,942 shares during the last quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coupang by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 34,595,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,161,000 after acquiring an additional 8,328,148 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Coupang by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,547,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 951,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP raised its position in Coupang by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 24,833,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,629,000 after purchasing an additional 89,207 shares in the last quarter. 83.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Nomura dropped their target price on Coupang from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup cut Coupang from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $22.20 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Coupang in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Coupang from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Coupang from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coupang presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.92.

Coupang Company Profile

Coupang, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CPNG, is a South Korean e-commerce company headquartered in Seoul. Founded in 2010 by Bom Kim, the company grew rapidly by combining an online marketplace with a large direct-retail business model. Coupang completed a primary listing in the United States in 2021, and it has become one of South Korea’s leading online retailers by focusing on convenience, speed and a wide product assortment across consumer categories.

The company operates a vertically integrated e-commerce platform that includes a customer-facing marketplace and an extensive logistics and fulfillment network.