Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on QuantumScape (NYSE:QS)

QuantumScape Co. (NYSE:QS) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 33,061 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the average daily volume of 20,147 call options.

QuantumScape Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of QS stock opened at $4.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 4.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 14.07 and a current ratio of 14.07. QuantumScape has a 1 year low of $4.65 and a 1 year high of $10.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.71.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that QuantumScape will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at QuantumScape

In other QuantumScape news, Director Jagdeep Singh sold 5,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $27,710.31. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,590,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,978,820.83. This represents a 0.21 % 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, CFO Kevin Hettrich sold 55,647 shares of QuantumScape stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $281,017.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,022,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,164,852.15. This trade represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 702,057 shares of company stock valued at $3,982,909. Insiders own 12.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in QuantumScape during the second quarter worth about $1,950,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of QuantumScape by 880.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 316,361 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,853,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,671,000 after purchasing an additional 218,743 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in QuantumScape during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,002,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in QuantumScape during the third quarter worth approximately $828,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on QS shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on QuantumScape in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (up previously from $6.00) on shares of QuantumScape in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised QuantumScape to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC raised shares of QuantumScape from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.30 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of QuantumScape in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.26.

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.