Traders Buy High Volume of Nokia Call Options (NYSE:NOK)

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 92,784 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 68% compared to the average volume of 55,357 call options.

Nokia Stock Performance

Shares of Nokia stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $7.93. 30,499,720 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,798,434. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.15, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.79. Nokia has a 12-month low of $4.00 and a 12-month high of $8.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NOK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nokia in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. New Street Research set a $6.57 target price on shares of Nokia in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Nokia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Argus raised shares of Nokia to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Santander upgraded shares of Nokia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.01.

Institutional Trading of Nokia

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in Nokia by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 108,136,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $560,150,000 after buying an additional 1,957,524 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nokia by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 91,942,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $594,868,000 after acquiring an additional 11,612,590 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Nokia by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 47,321,058 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $306,167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,896,363 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Nokia by 171.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 17,490,101 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,161,000 after purchasing an additional 11,035,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Folketrygdfondet grew its position in shares of Nokia by 66.6% in the third quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 17,380,530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,600,000 after purchasing an additional 6,950,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.28% of the company’s stock.

About Nokia

Nokia Corporation, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a global telecommunications and technology company with roots dating back to 1865. Over its long history the company moved from forestry and cable operations into electronics and telecommunications, becoming widely known in the 1990s and 2000s for its mobile phones. In recent years Nokia refocused its business toward network infrastructure, software and technology licensing, and research and development, following the divestiture of its handset manufacturing business and the acquisition of Alcatel‑Lucent in 2016, which brought Bell Labs into its portfolio.

Today Nokia’s core activities center on designing, building and supporting communications networks and related software.