Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Sees Large Volume Increase on Analyst Upgrade

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Argus upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Argus now has a $15.00 price target on the stock. Approximately 33,690,969 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the previous session’s volume of 56,075,129 shares.The stock last traded at $11.1660 and had previously closed at $10.46.

NOK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Danske cut Nokia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Nokia in a report on Monday, February 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Monday, April 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nokia from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $13.00 target price on Nokia in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.71.

Key Headlines Impacting Nokia

Here are the key news stories impacting Nokia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven outlook lift — Coverage notes Nokia’s Q1 beat and sharply improved outlook as cloud/hyperscaler and AI networking demand accelerate, which supports revenue and margin re-rating. Nokia is starting to look different and AI is a big reason
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade — Argus upgraded NOK from Hold to Buy with a $15 price target (about ~40% upside vs. recent levels), providing a clear bullish catalyst for momentum traders and longer-term investors. Argus Upgrades Nokia to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Major institutional backing — Reports show Nvidia holds a meaningful Nokia position (~166.4M ADRs reported) and earlier invested ~$1B; that placement signals strategic alignment with AI infrastructure players and lends credibility to the AI narrative. Nvidia is quietly betting 8% of its portfolio on this $10 stock
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnerships — New alliances with Orange and RUCKUS to co-develop AI-powered 5G RAN solutions and integrated Wi‑Fi 7 / fiber LAN offerings position Nokia to capture enterprise and operator AI networking spend. Nokia Alliances With Orange And RUCKUS Test AI Network Rerating
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile investor interest — Coverage highlights a stake by Oaktree/Howard Marks among other institutional holders, which can attract further investor attention and reduce perceived risk for some buyers. Howard Marks Likes Upside Potential of This Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Market narrative / media coverage — Multiple outlets report the stock hitting multi‑year highs and increased media attention (podcasts, feature pieces). This raises visibility but can also amplify short‑term volatility. Nokia stock surges to 16-year high
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: Ciena comparison — Recent analyst pieces comparing Ciena (CIEN) vs. Nokia paint Ciena as stronger in near-term AI-driven optical/networking demand (larger backlog, record revenue), suggesting Nokia faces stiff competition for hyperscaler spend. Ciena vs. Nokia: Which Networking Stock is the Better Buy Now?

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nokia

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOK. Amundi purchased a new position in Nokia during the first quarter worth approximately $776,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nokia by 27.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 186,997 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 40,276 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Nokia by 6,539.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,841,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,798,758 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Nokia by 6,204.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 60,464 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 59,505 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Nokia by 8.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 12,550,274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,033 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.28% of the company’s stock.

Nokia Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $61.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.24.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter. Nokia had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 4.02%. As a group, research analysts predict that Nokia Corporation will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Nokia Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.0468 per share. This is a boost from Nokia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 28th. Nokia’s payout ratio is currently 56.25%.

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.