Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA)

Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 181,983 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 451% compared to the typical daily volume of 33,007 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nikola

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Nikola by 193.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 140,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 92,612 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Nikola by 121.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 5,190 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nikola by 11.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 524,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after buying an additional 53,966 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Nikola in the 3rd quarter valued at $326,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Nikola during the 3rd quarter valued at $336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Nikola from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Nikola from $10.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bryan, Garnier & Co lowered shares of Nikola from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on Nikola from $12.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

Nikola Stock Down 8.9 %

Nikola stock opened at $1.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $87.04 million, a P/E ratio of -0.10 and a beta of 1.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.84. Nikola has a twelve month low of $1.32 and a twelve month high of $34.50.

Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($2.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.24) by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $25.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.23 million. Nikola had a negative return on equity of 95.73% and a negative net margin of 840.44%. Nikola’s quarterly revenue was up 1382.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

About Nikola

Nikola Corporation operates as a technology innovator and integrator that develops energy and transportation solutions in the United States and internationally. The company operates in truck and energy units. It commercializes battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) to the trucking sector.