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

Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 33,532 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 46% compared to the average volume of 22,990 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nikola

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Girsky sold 4,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.75, for a total value of $35,929.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 238,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,846,910.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nikola by 137.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 264,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 153,494 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Nikola during the second quarter worth about $2,214,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nikola during the second quarter worth approximately $819,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Nikola in the second quarter valued at approximately $368,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nikola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $138,000. 37.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Nikola from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th.

Nikola Price Performance

Shares of NKLA stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,830,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,238,281. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.95. The company has a market cap of $201.47 million, a P/E ratio of -0.14 and a beta of 2.06. Nikola has a 1-year low of $3.72 and a 1-year high of $38.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($2.67) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.78) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $31.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($7.21) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 101.9% on a year-over-year basis.

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.