Arizona State Retirement System Grows Stake in Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) by 78.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 291,130 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,856 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Nikola were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKLA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nikola by 27.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,706,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,029,000 after acquiring an additional 12,085,830 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nikola during the third quarter worth about $277,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Nikola by 16.0% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 268,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 37,087 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Nikola by 73.1% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 69,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 29,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Nikola by 38.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 337,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 94,191 shares during the last quarter. 37.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NKLA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1.00 target price on shares of Nikola in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Nikola in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $2.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Nikola in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company.

Nikola Stock Performance

Shares of NKLA stock opened at $0.64 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $0.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $0.86. The company has a market cap of $860.00 million, a P/E ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Nikola Co. has a 52 week low of $0.52 and a 52 week high of $3.71.

Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $11.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.46) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nikola Co. will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph R. Pike sold 75,162 shares of Nikola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.68, for a total transaction of $51,110.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,257.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

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.