Nikola Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:NKLA)

Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 64,439 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical volume of 42,833 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Girsky bought 33,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.20 per share, for a total transaction of $539,994.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 241,433 shares in the company, valued at $3,911,214.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NKLA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nikola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $93,633,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nikola by 27.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,706,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,029,000 after purchasing an additional 12,085,830 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Nikola by 65.4% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,695,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,229,114 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Nikola by 90.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,812,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Nikola by 43.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,242,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,112 shares during the last quarter. 37.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nikola Trading Up 2,571.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NKLA opened at $9.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.84 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.73. Nikola has a 52-week low of $8.77 and a 52-week high of $111.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.57.

Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($3.00) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($3.00). The company had revenue of $7.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.05 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nikola will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on NKLA. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Nikola in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Bryan, Garnier & Co initiated coverage on shares of Nikola in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Nikola in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company.

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.