Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBKR) was the target of unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 17,088 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,851% from the average daily volume of 876 puts.

NASDAQ:IBKR shares opened at $68.19 on Tuesday. Interactive Brokers Group has a 52-week low of $58.84 and a 52-week high of $82.83. The company has a fifty-day moving average of $75.39 and a 200-day moving average of $69.71. The company has a market capitalization of $28.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a growth price-earnings ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.67.

Interactive Brokers Group Inc (NASDAQ: IBKR) last announced its results on Tuesday, January 18. The financial services provider reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.83 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Interactive Brokers Group achieved a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 3.29%. During the same period last year, the company earned earnings per share of $0.69. Equity analysts expect Interactive Brokers Group to post earnings per share of 3.58 for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 14. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 1 will receive a dividend of $0.10. This represents an annualized dividend of $0.40 and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 28. The Interactive Brokers Group dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Separately, insider Thomas Aj Frank sold 16,842 shares of Interactive Brokers Group in a trade that took place on Wednesday, November 3. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.64, for a total value of $1,273,928.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, accessible via this link. Additionally, Chairman Thomas Peterffy sold 20,000 shares of Interactive Brokers Group in a trade that took place on Friday, November 5. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.75, for a total transaction of $1,495,000.00. The disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,112,423 shares of the company worth $84,216,673 during the last quarter. 11.83% of the shares are held by insiders of the company.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MARSHALL WACE ASIA Ltd increased its stake in Interactive Brokers Group by 140.6% in the second quarter. MARSHALL WACE ASIA Ltd now owns 994,993 shares of the financial services provider worth $65,401,000 after purchasing an additional 581,424 shares in the last quarter. Majedie Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Interactive Brokers Group by 139.8% in the second quarter. Majedie Asset Management Ltd now owns 277,425 shares of the financial services provider worth $18,243,000 after buying an additional 161,716 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Interactive Brokers Group by 7.8% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 76,926 shares of the financial services provider worth $4,796,000 after buying 5,563 additional shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Interactive Brokers Group in the second quarter valued at $24,570,000. Finally, Banco Santander SA increased its stake in Interactive Brokers Group by 245.9% in the third quarter. Banco Santander SA now owns 30,261 shares of the financial services provider worth $1,886,000 after buying an additional 21,513 shares in the last quarter. 19.43% of the shares are held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Interactive Brokers Group shares from a ‘market performer’ rating to an ‘outperformer’ rating and set a price target of $90.00 for the company in a report research on Wednesday, January 19. Goldman Sachs Group raised its price target on shares of Interactive Brokers Group from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a Tuesday, January 11 research report. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Interactive Brokers Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a price target of $81.00 for the company in a Wednesday, November 24 research report. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage for Interactive Brokers Group shares in a Wednesday, Dec. 15, research report. They set a “buy” rating and a price target of $126.00 for the company. One research analyst gave the stock a hold rating and five gave the company’s stock a buy rating. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.67.

About Interactive Brokers Group

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc operates as an investment holding company, which engages in brokerage or dealer and proprietary trading activities. It operates through the following segments: Electronic Brokerage and Corporate. The Electronic Brokerage segment is a direct market access broker, which serves the clients of traditional brokers and prime brokers.

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