Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR)

Luminar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAZR - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 59,186 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 718% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,234 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Luminar Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Luminar Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Luminar Technologies by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 36,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 5,810 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Luminar Technologies by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 35,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 6,470 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Luminar Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Luminar Technologies by 1,077.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 8,666 shares during the period. 30.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LAZR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Luminar Technologies in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Luminar Technologies from $3.50 to $2.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Luminar Technologies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.86.

Luminar Technologies Stock Performance

Luminar Technologies stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.27. 9,427,677 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,127,822. Luminar Technologies has a 52-week low of $3.23 and a 52-week high of $32.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.48. The company has a market cap of $153.29 million, a P/E ratio of -0.25 and a beta of 2.01.

Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.75) by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $18.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Luminar Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Luminar Technologies will post -14.2 earnings per share for the current year.

About Luminar Technologies

Luminar Technologies, Inc, an automotive technology company, provides sensor technologies and software for passenger cars and commercial trucks in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. It operates in two segments, Autonomy Solutions and Advanced Technologies and Services. The Autonomy Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and sells laser imaging, detection, and ranging sensors or lidars, as well as related perception and autonomy software solutions primarily for original equipment manufacturers in the automobile, commercial vehicle, robo-taxi, and adjacent industries.