Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Nokia (NYSE:NOK)

Key Points

• Traders bought 92,784 call options on Nokia on Tuesday, about a 68% increase over the typical daily call volume of 55,357, signaling unusual bullish options activity.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” (8 Buys, 4 Holds, 1 Sell) with a consensus price target of $7.01, and several firms including Kepler, Santander and JPMorgan recently upgraded or raised targets on the stock.
• Nokia traded around $7.93 mid-day with roughly 30.5M shares changing hands; the company has a $45.5B market cap, a P/E of 61.15, a 52-week range of $4.00–$8.37, and several hedge funds markedly increased their stakes recently.

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 92,784 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 68% compared to the typical daily volume of 55,357 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Nokia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Nokia from $7.10 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. New Street Research set a $6.57 price objective on shares of Nokia in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Santander upgraded Nokia from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Nokia in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nokia presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $7.01.

Nokia Stock Performance

NYSE:NOK traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $7.93. 30,499,720 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,798,434. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $7.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.15. Nokia has a fifty-two week low of $4.00 and a fifty-two week high of $8.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.79.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nokia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nokia by 38.0% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 7,760,500 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,328,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136,545 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Nokia by 214.7% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 84,067 shares of the technology company's stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 57,350 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Nokia by 35,010.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 12,655,143 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,871,000 after buying an additional 12,619,099 shares during the last quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Nokia by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,473,592 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,898,000 after buying an additional 200,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Folketrygdfondet increased its stake in shares of Nokia by 66.6% in the third quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 17,380,530 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,600,000 after buying an additional 6,950,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.28% of the company's stock.

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.

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