Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA – Get Rating) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 146,248 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 42% compared to the average daily volume of 103,001 put options.

Nikola Stock Performance

NKLA stock opened at $2.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Nikola has a fifty-two week low of $2.52 and a fifty-two week high of $12.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -1.60 and a beta of 1.51.

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Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $24.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.81 million. Analysts forecast that Nikola will post -1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark A. Russell sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total transaction of $221,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,812,346 shares in the company, valued at $8,296,420.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Trevor R. Milton bought 3,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.80 per share, with a total value of $17,400,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,047,726 shares in the company, valued at $296,076,810.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Russell sold 75,000 shares of Nikola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total value of $221,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,812,346 shares in the company, valued at $8,296,420.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,801,120 shares of company stock worth $6,259,201 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nikola

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nikola by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,200 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Nikola by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,904 shares of the company's stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Nikola by 7.0% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 33,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Nikola by 97.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,657 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Nikola by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 100,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,071,000 after buying an additional 2,571 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NKLA. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Nikola from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 14th. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Nikola from $12.50 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Nikola from $10.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Nikola from $12.50 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Nikola from $7.00 to $8.00 in a research note on Friday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.25.

About Nikola

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Nikola Corporation operates as a technology innovator and integrator that works to develop energy and transportation solutions. It operates through two business units, Truck and Energy. The Truck business unit develops and commercializes battery hydrogen-electric and battery-electric semi-trucks to the trucking sector.

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