Circle Internet Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CRCL)

Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 111,238 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 12% compared to the average volume of 99,313 call options.

Circle Internet Group Trading Up 6.0%

Shares of NYSE:CRCL traded up $4.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.64. 16,675,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,750,424. The stock has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.71 and a beta of 0.23. Circle Internet Group has a twelve month low of $49.90 and a twelve month high of $159.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.27.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $701.32 million during the quarter. Circle Internet Group had a return on equity of 13.58% and a net margin of 15.53%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($4.48) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Circle Internet Group will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Circle Internet Group

In other Circle Internet Group news, insider Nikhil Chandhok sold 489,737 shares of Circle Internet Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.37, for a total value of $35,442,266.69. Following the sale, the insider owned 521,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,763,317.33. The trade was a 48.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Patrick Sean Neville sold 1,034,396 shares of Circle Internet Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.87, for a total value of $85,720,396.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,018 shares in the company, valued at $167,231.66. This represents a 99.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,052,639 shares of company stock valued at $158,812,690. Insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Circle Internet Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Circle Internet Group by 3,800.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Circle Internet Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Circle Internet Group by 170.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Circle Internet Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Circle Internet Group during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Compass Point set a $62.00 price target on Circle Internet Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Circle Internet Group from $111.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Circle Internet Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Circle Internet Group in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Circle Internet Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.12.

About Circle Internet Group

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) is a financial technology company that builds infrastructure to enable businesses and developers to use and move money on public blockchains. Co-founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville, the company is best known as a principal issuer and steward of USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin developed through the CENTRE Consortium, which Circle co-founded with Coinbase. Jeremy Allaire serves as CEO and has been a visible leader in the company’s strategy and public engagement around digital currency and payments innovation.

Circle’s core products and services center on digital currency issuance and programmable payments.