Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) Shares Up 5.8%

Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) shares traded up 5.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $0.67 and last traded at $0.65. 46,453,815 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 94,297,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NKLA shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Nikola in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Nikola in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $2.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1.00 target price on shares of Nikola in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th.

Nikola Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $0.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $0.82. 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 (NASDAQ:NKLA) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $11.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Nikola Co. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Nikola

In other Nikola news, insider Joseph R. Pike sold 75,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.68, for a total value of $51,110.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,790 shares in the company, valued at $292,257.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nikola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NKLA. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nikola by 142.3% during the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 584,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 343,273 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nikola by 10.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,646,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,832,000 after acquiring an additional 454,804 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nikola during the first quarter worth $43,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Nikola by 65.4% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,695,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,229,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Nikola by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 419,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 29,016 shares during the period. 37.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nikola Company Profile

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.