Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO)

Hello Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MOMO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 8,207 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 861% compared to the average daily volume of 854 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Hello Group from $5.90 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hello Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Hello Group from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.25.

Hello Group Stock Performance

Shares of MOMO traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.29. The company had a trading volume of 197,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,030. Hello Group has a 52 week low of $4.79 and a 52 week high of $8.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hello Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Hello Group by 472.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,873 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hello Group during the second quarter valued at about $68,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hello Group in the second quarter worth about $87,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hello Group by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 14,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 3,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Hello Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.96% of the company’s stock.

About Hello Group

Hello Group Inc provides mobile-based social and entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. It operates in three segments: Momo, Tantan, and QOOL. The company offers Momo, a mobile application that connects people and facilitates social interactions based on location, interests, and various online recreational activities, including live talent shows, short videos, social games, as well as other video- and audio-based interactive experiences, such as online parties, mobile karaoke and user participated reality shows; Tantan, a social and dating application; and other applications under the Hertz, Soulchill, Duidui, and Tietie names.