Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA)

Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 42,594 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 102% compared to the average volume of 21,092 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKLA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Nikola from $12.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bryan, Garnier & Co cut shares of Nikola from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Nikola from $10.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Nikola Stock Down 13.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NKLA opened at $2.02 on Tuesday. 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 $122.95 million, a P/E ratio of -0.14 and a beta of 2.07. Nikola has a 52-week low of $1.92 and a 52-week high of $34.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.70.

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 net margin of 840.44% and a negative return on equity of 95.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1382.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nikola

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NKLA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Nikola by 4.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,262,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,473,000 after buying an additional 3,117,074 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nikola during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,161,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nikola by 207.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 496,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 335,000 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nikola in the second quarter worth approximately $2,214,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in Nikola by 312.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 310,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 235,531 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.38% of the company’s stock.

Nikola Company Profile

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.