Zynga Inc Options Witnessing Unusual Trading

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Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) shares witnessed some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 20,836 put options on the game maker, which represents an increase of almost 102% over the average volume of 10,315 put options.

Analysts rate Zynga a Hold

Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has received ratings from number of research firms over the last few months. Benchmark Co. analysts, in a report issued on April 24th, raised their price target on the game maker from $3.46 to $3.52. In a research note also dated April 24th, Barclays analysts raised their price target from $4.50 to $5.00, and gave an Equal Weight rating to the stock. Canaccord Genuity analysts, in a report on April 24th, increased their price target on Zynga from $4.40 to $5.00, and now have a Hold rating on the gaming firm.

Overall, two analysts have a Sell rating on Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), ten have Hold rating, while only two analysts have a Buy rating on the stock. Currently, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $4.62.

For the last reported quarter, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) posted EPS of ($0.01), which was in line with the consensus estimate. Revenue for the company came in at $168.00 million compared to consensus analyst estimate of $147.52 million, and was down 36.3% on a year-over-year basis. Last year, for the same quarter, the game maker posted an EPS of $0.01.

Franchise games hold potential

However, the first quarter results hinted that the franchise games hold some potential for Zybga. In the quarter, major titles like Zynga Poker and Words With Friends witnessed a turnaround of previous downtrends, with mobile user engagement rising on a quarterly basis. The numbers were even more encouraging as the turnaround comes even before the release of the new mobile titles for all three franchises. Farmville 2: Country Escape, which has been launched recently, has been hugely popular in both download and grossing charts.

Mobile users for Zynga Poker increased by 19%, which helped the franchise see it’s first sequential gain in bookings in seven quarters. Bookings for Words With Friends gained 43% year over year and 9% quarter over quarter in daily active users.

As of 11.44 AM EDT today, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) shares were down 1.92% at $3.59.

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