QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) Stock Price Down 6.8% on Insider Selling

QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) shares traded down 6.8% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $8.55 and last traded at $8.65. 28,794,714 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 23,880,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.28.

Specifically, insider Michael O. Mccarthy III sold 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.60, for a total transaction of $5,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,467,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,019,322.80. This represents a 25.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Fritz Prinz sold 929,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total transaction of $10,804,427.06. Following the sale, the director directly owned 161,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,874,805.66. This trade represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other QuantumScape news, Director Fritz Prinz sold 70,187 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total transaction of $815,572.94. Following the sale, the director directly owned 161,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,874,805.66. This represents a 30.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of QuantumScape from $6.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of QuantumScape to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group cut shares of QuantumScape from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $5.00 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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 seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.90.

QuantumScape Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 16.40, a quick ratio of 16.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.35. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.21 and a beta of 4.42.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). The business had revenue of $36.67 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that QuantumScape Corporation will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuantumScape

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in QS. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in QuantumScape by 456.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,759,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,799,000 after buying an additional 3,904,168 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in QuantumScape during the fourth quarter valued at about $17,762,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in QuantumScape by 9.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,351,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,064,000 after buying an additional 2,911,362 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,066,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in QuantumScape during the first quarter valued at about $2,819,000. Institutional investors own 29.87% of the company’s stock.

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.