Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Evolv Technologies (NASDAQ:EVLV)

Key Points

• Traders significantly increased their investments in Evolv Technologies by purchasing 5,513 call options, marking a 1,690% increase from the average daily volume.
• Analysts are optimistic about Evolv Technologies, with several upgrades in ratings and price targets, including Cantor Fitzgerald raising their target from $7.00 to $9.00.
• Major shareholder Gates Frontier, LLC sold a large portion of their shares, decreasing their position by 4.32%, but still maintains a significant ownership stake in the company.

Evolv Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVLV - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 5,513 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,690% compared to the average daily volume of 308 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Evolv Technologies from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Lake Street Capital raised Evolv Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $5.50 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Evolv Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Evolv Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $8.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Gates Frontier, Llc sold 776,236 shares of Evolv Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.20, for a total value of $6,365,135.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,189,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $140,950,587.20. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Evolv Technologies in the first quarter valued at $33,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Evolv Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Evolv Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evolv Technologies in the first quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, SouthState Corp boosted its position in Evolv Technologies by 420.1% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 18,571 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. 66.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Evolv Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVLV opened at $7.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.72. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of -13.73 and a beta of 1.71. Evolv Technologies has a 12 month low of $2.04 and a 12 month high of $8.91.

Evolv Technologies (NASDAQ:EVLV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.16). Evolv Technologies had a negative return on equity of 76.80% and a negative net margin of 73.04%.The company had revenue of $26.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.95 million. Evolv Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Evolv Technologies will post -0.27 EPS for the current year.

About Evolv Technologies

Evolv Technologies Holdings, Inc provides artificial intelligence (AI)-based weapons detection for security screening in the United States and internationally. Its products include Evolv Express, a touchless security screening system designed to detect firearms, improvised explosive devices, and tactical knives; and Evolv Insights that provides self-serve access, insights regarding visitor flow and arrival curves, location specific performance, system detection performance, and alarm statistics.

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