Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on LendingClub (NYSE:LC)

LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 5,279 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 334% compared to the typical volume of 1,215 call options.

LendingClub Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LC traded up $2.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $14.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,497,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,422,259. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $11.58 and its 200 day moving average is $9.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 2.04. LendingClub has a twelve month low of $4.73 and a twelve month high of $15.52.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $187.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.03 million. LendingClub had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that LendingClub will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingClub

In other news, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.25, for a total transaction of $174,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,383,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,179,460.50. This represents a 0.00 % 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. Insiders sold a total of 51,703 shares of company stock worth $562,705 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in LendingClub by 176.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,344,295 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,749,000 after acquiring an additional 857,371 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,270,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $98,502,000 after purchasing an additional 336,827 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in LendingClub during the first quarter valued at approximately $164,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in LendingClub by 38.2% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 143,839 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 39,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in LendingClub by 8.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 314,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,766,000 after buying an additional 23,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of LendingClub from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $11.50 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of LendingClub from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LendingClub from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LendingClub from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on LendingClub from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LendingClub presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.29.

About LendingClub

LendingClub Corporation, operates as a bank holding company, that provides range of financial products and services in the United States. It offers deposit products, including savings accounts, checking accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loan products, such as consumer loans comprising unsecured personal loans, secured auto refinance loans, and patient and education finance loans; and commercial loans, including small business loans.