QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) Shares Down 13.4% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• QuantumScape's shares dropped 13.4% during trading, with significant trading volume and a last trading price of $9.51.
• Several analysts have issued downgrades for QuantumScape, with UBS Group and Goldman Sachs setting a price target of $2.50.
• Insider transactions reveal that executives sold a combined total of 3.6 million shares worth about $29.7 million over the past three months.

QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 13.4% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $9.38 and last traded at $9.51. 36,418,589 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 54% from the average session volume of 23,578,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.98.

Specifically, insider Michael O. Mccarthy III sold 500,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.60, for a total transaction of $5,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,467,183 shares in the company, valued at $17,019,322.80. This trade represents a 25.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Fritz Prinz sold 929,813 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total value of $10,804,427.06. Following the transaction, the director owned 161,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,874,805.66. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, Director Fritz Prinz sold 70,187 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total transaction of $815,572.94. Following the transaction, the director owned 161,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,874,805.66. This trade represents a 30.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on QS. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on QuantumScape from $6.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on QuantumScape from $3.00 to $2.50 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen upgraded QuantumScape to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded QuantumScape from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $5.00 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, QuantumScape has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $5.90.

QuantumScape Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.37. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of -9.60 and a beta of 4.42. The company has a current ratio of 16.40, a quick ratio of 16.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

QuantumScape (NYSE:QS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.20). The business had revenue of $36.67 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that QuantumScape Corporation will post -0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuantumScape

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QS. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 1,091.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 432,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 396,160 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of QuantumScape in the fourth quarter valued at about $403,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,440,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,367,000 after purchasing an additional 956,072 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of QuantumScape in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,762,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuantumScape by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,882,031 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,538,000 after purchasing an additional 28,073 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.87% of the company's stock.

QuantumScape Company Profile

QuantumScape Corporation, a research and development stage company, focuses on the development and commercialization of solid-state lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles and other applications. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.