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

QuantumScape Co. (NYSE:QS) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 104,382 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 210% compared to the typical volume of 33,628 call options.

QuantumScape Price Performance

Shares of NYSE QS opened at $6.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.62 and a beta of 4.46. QuantumScape has a twelve month low of $4.65 and a twelve month high of $9.66. The company has a quick ratio of 14.07, a current ratio of 14.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.20 and a 200 day moving average of $5.68.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.02). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that QuantumScape will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QuantumScape news, Director Jagdeep Singh sold 5,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $27,710.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,590,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,978,820.83. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Hettrich sold 55,647 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,022,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,164,852.15. This represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 536,460 shares of company stock worth $2,903,619. 12.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuantumScape

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of QuantumScape in the second quarter worth $1,950,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of QuantumScape by 880.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 316,361 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of QuantumScape by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,853,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,671,000 after purchasing an additional 218,743 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of QuantumScape in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $828,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 6,650.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 135,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 133,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of QuantumScape in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised QuantumScape to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC upgraded QuantumScape from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.30 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $7.00 target price (up from $6.00) on shares of QuantumScape in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.26.

QuantumScape Company Profile

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.