Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on QuantumScape (NYSE:QS)

QuantumScape Co. (NYSE:QS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 33,061 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 20,147 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on QS. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 target price (up from $6.00) on shares of QuantumScape in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of QuantumScape in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. HSBC raised QuantumScape from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.30 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on QuantumScape in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised QuantumScape to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at QuantumScape

In related news, Director Jurgen Leohold sold 17,435 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.00, for a total value of $104,610.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 194,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,169,424. This trade represents a 8.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Fritz Prinz sold 12,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.04, for a total transaction of $65,056.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 241,195 shares in the company, valued at $1,215,622.80. This represents a 5.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 702,057 shares of company stock worth $3,982,909. Company insiders own 12.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuantumScape

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of QuantumScape by 6,650.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 135,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 133,000 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in QuantumScape during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,950,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in QuantumScape during the 2nd quarter valued at $680,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in QuantumScape during the 2nd quarter valued at $644,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in QuantumScape by 880.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 316,361 shares during the last quarter. 29.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

QuantumScape Price Performance

Shares of QS opened at $5.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 4.50. QuantumScape has a twelve month low of $4.65 and a twelve month high of $10.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.29 and a 200-day moving average of $5.70. The company has a quick ratio of 14.07, a current ratio of 14.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.02). During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that QuantumScape will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QuantumScape Company Profile

QuantumScape Corporation, a research and development stage company, focuses on the development and commercialization of solid-state lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles and other applications. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.