Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR)

Ichor Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:ICHR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 2,629 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 207% compared to the typical daily volume of 855 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ichor from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Ichor from $88.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Ichor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Ichor from $100.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Ichor from $115.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.44.

Ichor Price Performance

Ichor stock opened at $37.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.01 and a beta of 1.88. Ichor has a 52-week low of $14.07 and a 52-week high of $113.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.66.

Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $328.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.15 million. Ichor had a net margin of 0.32% and a return on equity of 3.54%. Ichor’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ichor will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ichor

In related news, CEO Philip Barros, Jr. sold 1,314 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $81,310.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 161,562 shares in the company, valued at $9,997,456.56. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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, COO Bruce Ragsdale sold 2,149 shares of Ichor stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.47, for a total value of $140,695.03. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 88,595 shares in the company, valued at $5,800,314.65. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days, insiders sold 46,740 shares of company stock valued at $2,602,960. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ichor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ICHR. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Ichor by 54.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,108,844 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,501,000 after buying an additional 390,017 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Ichor by 10.3% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,307,683 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,893,000 after purchasing an additional 121,877 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ichor by 2.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 167,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,800,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ichor by 61.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,531 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,292,000 after purchasing an additional 43,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Ichor in the 2nd quarter worth $5,165,000. Institutional investors own 94.81% of the company’s stock.

Ichor Company Profile

Ichor Holdings, Ltd. designs, engineers and manufactures fluid delivery systems and components used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Its products include gas and chemical delivery subsystems, gas panels, precision-machined parts and welded assemblies that help equipment makers control and deliver process materials used to manufacture semiconductor wafers. The company primarily serves original equipment manufacturers in the semiconductor capital equipment industry, supporting customers with manufacturing and engineering operations across multiple regions.