Plug Power, Inc. $PLUG Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Plug Power, Inc. by 4.5%, acquiring 3,930,342 shares to hold about 8.93% of the company, valued at $123.3 million.
• Plug Power reported a loss of ($0.16) earnings per share for the last quarter, missing expectations, despite generating revenue of $173.97 million, surpassing forecasts.
• Analysts' ratings for Plug Power are mixed, with four "Buy" ratings, seven "Hold" ratings, and five "Sell" ratings, and an average price target set at $1.88.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,368,845 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,930,342 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.93% of Plug Power worth $123,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Plug Power by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,907,687 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $16,843,000 after purchasing an additional 790,650 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Plug Power by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,691,201 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $12,266,000 after purchasing an additional 42,900 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Plug Power during the fourth quarter worth about $10,370,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Plug Power by 23.0% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,465,804 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $4,679,000 after purchasing an additional 648,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Plug Power by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,771,821 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,904,000 after purchasing an additional 23,194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.48% of the company's stock.

Plug Power Price Performance

NASDAQ PLUG traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $1.67. 47,266,792 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,342,820. Plug Power, Inc. has a 52-week low of $0.69 and a 52-week high of $3.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of -0.72 and a beta of 2.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average is $1.51 and its 200-day moving average is $1.32.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The electronics maker reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $173.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.97 million. Plug Power had a negative net margin of 292.84% and a negative return on equity of 90.22%. Equities analysts forecast that Plug Power, Inc. will post -1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on PLUG shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Plug Power from $1.10 to $1.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Plug Power from $1.25 to $0.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.25 to $1.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $0.90 to $1.60 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Plug Power has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $1.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul B. Middleton bought 650,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.03 per share, for a total transaction of $669,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 2,558,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,634,805.92. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Plug Power Company Profile

Plug Power Inc develops hydrogen and fuel cell product solutions in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers GenDrive, a hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system that provides power to material handling electric vehicles; GenSure, a stationary fuel cell solution that offers modular PEM fuel cell power to support the backup and grid-support power requirements of the telecommunications, transportation, and utility sectors; ProGen, a fuel cell stack and engine technology used in mobility and stationary fuel cell systems, and as engines in electric delivery vans; GenFuel, a liquid hydrogen fueling delivery, generation, storage, and dispensing system; GenCare, an ongoing Internet of Things-based maintenance and on-site service program for GenDrive fuel cell systems, GenSure fuel cell systems, GenFuel hydrogen storage and dispensing products, and ProGen fuel cell engines; and GenKey, an integrated turn-key solution for transitioning to fuel cell power.