Luminar Technologies Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:LAZR)

Luminar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAZR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 50,423 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 117% compared to the average volume of 23,215 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Luminar Technologies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Luminar Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Luminar Technologies in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Luminar Technologies has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $2.00.

Luminar Technologies Stock Down 52.9%

Shares of LAZR traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $0.42. 37,314,891 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,447,373. The firm has a market cap of $33.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.08 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.18. Luminar Technologies has a 12-month low of $0.30 and a 12-month high of $10.40.

Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.94) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $18.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.56 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Luminar Technologies will post -14.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Luminar Technologies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LAZR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Luminar Technologies by 123.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,234,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342,197 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Luminar Technologies by 49.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 968,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 320,874 shares during the last quarter. Mudrick Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Luminar Technologies during the second quarter worth $10,726,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Luminar Technologies during the second quarter worth $1,424,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Luminar Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $840,000. 30.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Luminar Technologies Company Profile

Luminar Technologies, Inc, an automotive technology company, provides sensor technologies and software for passenger cars and commercial trucks in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. It operates in two segments, Autonomy Solutions and Advanced Technologies and Services. The Autonomy Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and sells laser imaging, detection, and ranging sensors or lidars, as well as related perception and autonomy software solutions primarily for original equipment manufacturers in the automobile, commercial vehicle, robo-taxi, and adjacent industries.