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

QuantumScape Co. (NYSE:QS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 77,880 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 213% compared to the average daily volume of 24,887 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of QuantumScape from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on QuantumScape from $3.00 to $2.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group downgraded QuantumScape from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $2.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of QuantumScape in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on QuantumScape from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QuantumScape currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.19.

Insider Activity at QuantumScape

In other news, Director Fritz Prinz sold 12,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.22, for a total transaction of $67,379.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 228,287 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,658.14. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael O. Mccarthy III sold 76,315 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.23, for a total value of $399,127.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,010,523 shares in the company, valued at $5,285,035.29. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,198 shares of company stock worth $748,796. 12.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of QuantumScape by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,351,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,064,000 after acquiring an additional 2,911,362 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in QuantumScape by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,882,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,538,000 after acquiring an additional 28,073 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,814,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066,844 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of QuantumScape during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,762,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,331,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,103,000 after purchasing an additional 104,894 shares during the last quarter. 29.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

QuantumScape Trading Up 10.9%

NYSE:QS opened at $4.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.03 and a beta of 4.38. QuantumScape has a one year low of $3.40 and a one year high of $9.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 14.07 and a current ratio of 14.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.76.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that QuantumScape will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About QuantumScape

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.