Nautilus Biotechnology Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:NAUT)

Key Points

• Unusually high options activity: Traders purchased 3,253 NAUT call options, a 1,427% increase over the stock’s average daily call volume.
• Stock performance and fundamentals: Nautilus shares rose to $2.30 amid trading volume far above average. The company reported a quarterly loss of $0.11 per share but exceeded analyst estimates, while analysts expect a full-year loss of $0.52 per share.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $3.83, although ratings range from Strong Buy to Sell. Institutional investors own approximately 50.7% of the company.

Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 3,253 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,427% compared to the average daily volume of 213 call options.

Nautilus Biotechnology Stock Performance

NAUT stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $2.30. 13,480,055 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 926,763. The stock has a market cap of $292.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.20 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $1.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.01. Nautilus Biotechnology has a fifty-two week low of $0.82 and a fifty-two week high of $4.31.

Nautilus Biotechnology (NASDAQ:NAUT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $0.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.10 million. Research analysts anticipate that Nautilus Biotechnology will post -0.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Nautilus Biotechnology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nautilus Biotechnology during the 2nd quarter worth about $63,000. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its position in Nautilus Biotechnology by 43.6% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 164,788 shares of the company's stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in Nautilus Biotechnology by 1,500.0% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,000 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Nautilus Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its stake in Nautilus Biotechnology by 1,710.9% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 890,949 shares of the company's stock worth $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 841,749 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NAUT shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nautilus Biotechnology to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Nautilus Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $4.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Nautilus Biotechnology from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Nautilus Biotechnology in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $3.50 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $3.83.

About Nautilus Biotechnology

Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc is a life sciences technology company developing tools for large-scale protein analysis. Its goal is to enable more comprehensive, sensitive and efficient study of the proteome, the full set of proteins expressed by a biological system, to support research in drug discovery, disease biology and translational science.

The company's primary offering is the Nautilus Proteome Analysis Platform, which combines a proprietary analytical instrument, consumables and software.

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