Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) Shares Down 8.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares down 8.2% — Oklo traded as low as $62.22 and last at $62.56 mid-day, with volume up about 40% versus its average daily trading volume.
• Q1 earnings missed — Oklo reported EPS of ($0.27) versus consensus ($0.17) and faces analyst downgrades (Goldman cut its target to $65, Citi to $73.50) though the consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $84.30.
• Significant insider selling — CEO and CFO sold large blocks (140,000 and 72,090 shares respectively), with insiders offloading 818,766 shares worth about $50.9M in the last quarter, leaving insiders with roughly 18.9% ownership.

Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 8.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $62.22 and last traded at $62.5570. 14,985,202 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 40% from the average daily volume of 10,713,665 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on OKLO. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Oklo from $91.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of Oklo in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Oklo from $95.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oklo in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Oklo in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.30.

Oklo Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -86.88 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's 50 day moving average is $59.09 and its 200 day moving average is $87.60.

Oklo (NYSE:OKLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.10). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.74) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Oklo Inc. will post -0.78 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jacob Dewitte sold 140,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.18, for a total value of $10,525,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 739,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,559,749.14. This represents a 15.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Richard Craig Bealmear sold 72,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $4,325,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 386,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,160,480. This trade represents a 15.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 818,766 shares of company stock valued at $50,855,915 in the last quarter. 18.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oklo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Oklo by 71.8% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,102,234 shares of the company's stock worth $792,822,000 after buying an additional 2,968,981 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Oklo by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,593,468 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,294,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901,909 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Oklo by 454.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,138,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752,946 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oklo by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,474,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $387,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Oklo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,786,000. Institutional investors own 85.03% of the company's stock.

Oklo Company Profile

Oklo, Inc is a California-based energy technology company specializing in the design and development of advanced nuclear microreactors. Headquartered in Fremont, the firm focuses on small modular reactor (SMR) technology that leverages fast-neutron fission and liquid-metal cooling to deliver carbon-free power. Oklo’s core objective is to bring compact, factory-built reactors online within a decade, offering a low-footprint alternative to traditional large nuclear plants.

The company’s flagship product, the Aurora microreactor, is a 1.5-megawatt electric (MWe) fast reactor cooled by a sodium alloy.

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