Investors Buy High Volume of Mattel Call Options (NASDAQ:MAT)

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 3,900 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 432% compared to the average volume of 733 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Mattel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Mattel from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Mattel from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mattel from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Mattel from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.57.

Institutional Trading of Mattel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MAT. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mattel by 84.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,352,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,757,000 after buying an additional 4,270,162 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Mattel during the fourth quarter worth $53,238,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Mattel by 54.5% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,582,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,144,000 after acquiring an additional 558,213 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in Mattel during the third quarter worth $8,997,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Mattel during the fourth quarter worth $7,431,000. 97.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mattel Price Performance

NASDAQ MAT opened at $21.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.84. Mattel has a 12-month low of $15.87 and a 12-month high of $21.88.

Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.15. Mattel had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 25.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mattel will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Mattel

Mattel, Inc, a toy and family entertainment company, designs, manufactures, and markets toys and consumer products in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through North America, International, and American Girl segments. It offers dolls and accessories, as well as books, content, gaming, and lifestyle products for children under the Barbie, American Girl, Disney Princess and Disney Frozen, Monster High, and Polly Pocket brands; die-cast vehicles, tracks, playsets, and accessories for kids, adults, and collectors under the Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks, Hot Wheels Mario Kart, Matchbox, and Cars brand names; and infant, toddler, and preschool products comprising content, toys, live events, and other consumer products under the Fisher-Price, Little People and Imaginext, and Thomas & Friends, and Power wheels brands.