Plug Power Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 65,817 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 55% compared to the typical volume of 42,423 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PLUG. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Plug Power from $1.25 to $1.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Plug Power from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Plug Power from $1.60 to $1.40 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Plug Power from $1.25 to $0.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Plug Power from $2.50 to $1.75 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Plug Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Paul B. Middleton acquired 350,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $0.72 per share, with a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,908,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,373,806.08. The trade was a 22.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Plug Power in the fourth quarter worth about $146,465,000. Heights Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Plug Power during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,174,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Plug Power during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,370,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Plug Power by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,438,503 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $186,244,000 after acquiring an additional 4,491,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Plug Power in the fourth quarter valued at $6,235,000. Institutional investors own 43.48% of the company’s stock.

Plug Power Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of PLUG opened at $0.79 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1.11 and its 200 day moving average is $1.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Plug Power has a 12-month low of $0.69 and a 12-month high of $3.55. The company has a market capitalization of $850.60 million, a PE ratio of -0.37 and a beta of 2.19.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The electronics maker reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). Plug Power had a negative net margin of 214.05% and a negative return on equity of 46.99%. The company had revenue of $133.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.92 million. Research analysts expect that Plug Power will post -1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc develops hydrogen and fuel cell product solutions in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers GenDrive, a hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system that provides power to material handling electric vehicles; GenSure, a stationary fuel cell solution that offers modular PEM fuel cell power to support the backup and grid-support power requirements of the telecommunications, transportation, and utility sectors; ProGen, a fuel cell stack and engine technology used in mobility and stationary fuel cell systems, and as engines in electric delivery vans; GenFuel, a liquid hydrogen fueling delivery, generation, storage, and dispensing system; GenCare, an ongoing Internet of Things-based maintenance and on-site service program for GenDrive fuel cell systems, GenSure fuel cell systems, GenFuel hydrogen storage and dispensing products, and ProGen fuel cell engines; and GenKey, an integrated turn-key solution for transitioning to fuel cell power.