Traders Buy High Volume of Smartsheet Call Options (NYSE:SMAR)

Smartsheet Inc (NYSE:SMAR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 2,301 call options on the company. This is an increase of 99% compared to the average volume of 1,157 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SMAR. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Smartsheet from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Smartsheet from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Smartsheet from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Smartsheet from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smartsheet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.94.

Smartsheet Stock Up 8.9 %

NYSE:SMAR traded up $4.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,357,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,469,134. The company has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of -85.37 and a beta of 0.74. Smartsheet has a 52-week low of $35.52 and a 52-week high of $54.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.46.

Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $276.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.23 million. Smartsheet had a negative return on equity of 12.06% and a negative net margin of 8.35%. The company’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Smartsheet will post -0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 4,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.91, for a total transaction of $183,280.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 68,067 shares in the company, valued at $2,988,821.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Pete Godbole sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.54, for a total transaction of $326,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 36,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,604,274.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 4,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.91, for a total value of $183,280.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 68,067 shares in the company, valued at $2,988,821.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,929 shares of company stock valued at $1,446,805. 4.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smartsheet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,122,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Smartsheet by 541.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,093 shares during the period. Clearline Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Smartsheet by 145.5% in the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 207,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,164,000 after purchasing an additional 123,204 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Smartsheet in the second quarter worth approximately $6,400,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smartsheet in the second quarter worth $591,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Smartsheet

Smartsheet, Inc engages in managing and automating collaborative work. Its platform provides solutions that eliminate the obstacles to capturing information, including a familiar and intuitive spreadsheet interface as well as easily customizable forms. The company was founded by W. Eric Browne, Maria Colacurcio, John D.