Traders Buy High Volume of Nokia Call Options (NYSE:NOK)

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 106,975 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 63% compared to the typical volume of 65,459 call options.

Nokia Trading Up 2.9%

Nokia stock opened at $10.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $60.90 billion, a PE ratio of 81.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.05. Nokia has a 52 week low of $4.00 and a 52 week high of $10.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The technology company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $7.19 billion during the quarter. Nokia had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 3.41%. Equities research analysts predict that Nokia will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Nokia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Nokia by 248.7% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,815 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,721 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in Nokia in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Nokia by 33,457.1% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 4,684 shares during the period. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Nokia in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Nokia in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America raised Nokia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.40 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nokia from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Northland Securities set a $13.00 price target on Nokia in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Nokia in a research note on Monday, February 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Nokia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nokia currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.83.

About Nokia

Nokia Corporation, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a global telecommunications and technology company with roots dating back to 1865. Over its long history the company moved from forestry and cable operations into electronics and telecommunications, becoming widely known in the 1990s and 2000s for its mobile phones. In recent years Nokia refocused its business toward network infrastructure, software and technology licensing, and research and development, following the divestiture of its handset manufacturing business and the acquisition of Alcatel‑Lucent in 2016, which brought Bell Labs into its portfolio.

Today Nokia’s core activities center on designing, building and supporting communications networks and related software.