Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on QuantumScape (NYSE:QS)

QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 68,295 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 100% compared to the average volume of 34,111 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QuantumScape news, Director Fritz Prinz sold 61,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.94, for a total value of $242,400.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 231,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,228.20. This represents a 20.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mohit Singh sold 325,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.21, for a total transaction of $2,343,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,641,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,836,736.31. The trade was a 16.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 747,951 shares of company stock worth $4,629,048. Insiders own 12.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in QuantumScape during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in QuantumScape during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 2,086.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 5,841 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 660.0% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 5,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in QuantumScape by 333.3% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 29.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QuantumScape Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE:QS opened at $6.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.69. QuantumScape has a 12 month low of $3.40 and a 12 month high of $9.52. The company has a current ratio of 16.66, a quick ratio of 16.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.68 and a beta of 4.42.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.02). During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. Equities analysts predict that QuantumScape will post -0.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of QuantumScape from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered shares of QuantumScape from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $5.00 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of QuantumScape from $3.00 to $2.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.19.

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.