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

QuantumScape Co. (NYSE:QS) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 61,536 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 46% compared to the average daily volume of 42,032 call options.

QuantumScape Stock Up 8.4 %

NYSE:QS traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,291,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,676,768. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.57 and a beta of 4.45. QuantumScape has a 12 month low of $4.65 and a 12 month high of $9.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 14.07 and a current ratio of 14.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.45.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.01). Equities analysts predict that QuantumScape will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on QS. HSBC upgraded shares of QuantumScape from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.30 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of QuantumScape to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (up from $6.00) on shares of QuantumScape in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.26.

Insider Transactions at QuantumScape

In other news, CFO Kevin Hettrich sold 55,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $281,017.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,022,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,164,852.15. This represents a 5.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Fritz Prinz sold 12,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.04, for a total value of $65,056.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 241,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,215,622.80. This represents a 5.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 567,878 shares of company stock valued at $3,062,871. 12.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuantumScape

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QS. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of QuantumScape by 6,650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 135,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 133,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in QuantumScape by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,853,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,671,000 after buying an additional 218,743 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in QuantumScape in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $828,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in QuantumScape by 127.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 204,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 114,504 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in QuantumScape by 326.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 104,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 79,871 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.87% of the company’s stock.

About QuantumScape

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.