An unusually large number of bullish bets were placed on the options of Sapient Corp. just three days before the digital ad specialist announced plans to be acquired for $3.7 billion by French advertising giant Publicis, according to options market data. Sapient shares jumped 43 percent to $24.73 on Monday after the company said it would be acquired by Publicis. The jump in the stock would result in big paper profits for some well-timed options bets last week, options strategists said.Sapient's options are usually very thinly traded with daily contracts volume of less than 100 for most days this year.Starting Oct. 6, however, trading in the options started showing increased activity, most of it in calls - typically used to make bullish bets on a stock.Sapient's 30-day implied volatility, a measure of the risk of large moves in a stock, also jumped 32 percent to 55.12 percent on Oct. 29.
Sapient Corporation (Sapient) is a global services company, which helps clients leverage marketing and technology to transform their businesses. Shares of SAPE traded higher by 41.92% or $7.26/share to $24.58. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.85 and as high as $17.95. On average, 844497 shares of SAPE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 25663628.
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