Nokia Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NOK)

Key Points

• Nokia experienced a significant surge in options trading, with 68,103 call options purchased, marking a 486% increase from its typical volume.
• The company reported Q2 earnings with a net revenue of $5.34 billion, beating estimates, but missed EPS expectations at $0.05.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Nokia, with JPMorgan lowering its target price to $6.00 while BNP Paribas upgraded its rating to "outperform" with a target of $5.00.

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 68,103 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 486% compared to the typical volume of 11,619 call options.

Nokia Stock Performance

Shares of NOK stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.08. The stock had a trading volume of 39,622,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,598,641. Nokia has a one year low of $3.91 and a one year high of $5.48. The firm has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a PE ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $4.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.02). Nokia had a return on equity of 8.36% and a net margin of 5.30%.The business had revenue of $5.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Nokia will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nokia in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Nokia from $6.50 to $6.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Nokia from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $5.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Nokia from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $5.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nokia presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.52.

Institutional Trading of Nokia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Nokia by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 108,136,988 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $560,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,524 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nokia by 8.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 12,550,274 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,033 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nokia during the 1st quarter worth about $45,207,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Nokia by 129.4% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,572,860 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,835,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nokia by 51.7% in the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 5,623,955 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,098 shares in the last quarter. 5.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nokia Company Profile

Nokia Oyj provides mobile, fixed, and cloud network solutions worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Network Infrastructure, Mobile Networks, Cloud and Network Services, and Nokia Technologies. The company provides fixed networking solutions, such as fiber and copper-based access infrastructure, in-home Wi-Fi solutions, and cloud and virtualization services; IP networking solutions, including IP access, aggregation, and edge and core routing for residential, mobile, enterprise and cloud applications; optical networks solutions that provides optical transport networks for metro, regional, and long-haul applications, and subsea applications; and submarine networks for undersea cable transmission.

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