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

Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 93,900 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 64% compared to the average daily volume of 57,428 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Nikola Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of NKLA stock opened at $0.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.14 million, a P/E ratio of -0.05 and a beta of 1.97. Nikola has a 1 year low of $0.43 and a 1 year high of $34.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nikola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nikola in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Nikola by 80.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 76,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 34,193 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Nikola during the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Nikola by 84.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 45,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 20,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Nikola in the 3rd quarter valued at $336,000. 37.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.