Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI)

Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 92,619 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 197% compared to the typical daily volume of 31,168 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Li Auto

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Li Auto by 100.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990,089 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in Li Auto during the fourth quarter worth $35,896,000. Ariose Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in Li Auto during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,555,000. SIH Partners LLLP increased its position in Li Auto by 508.2% in the first quarter. SIH Partners LLLP now owns 890,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,976,000 after buying an additional 744,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Li Auto in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,312,000. 9.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Li Auto Stock Performance

Shares of Li Auto stock opened at $20.96 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Li Auto has a fifty-two week low of $20.60 and a fifty-two week high of $47.33.

Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter. Li Auto had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 18.37%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Li Auto will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LI. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Li Auto from $57.30 to $48.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Li Auto from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Li Auto from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Li Auto from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Li Auto from $41.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.50.

About Li Auto

Li Auto Inc operates in the energy vehicle market in the People's Republic of China. It designs, develops, manufactures, and sells premium smart electric vehicles. The company's product line comprises MPVs and sport utility vehicles. It offers sales and after sales management, and technology development and corporate management services, as well as purchases manufacturing equipment.