Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Trading Down 6.5% – Time to Sell?

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK)’s stock price fell 6.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $12.13 and last traded at $12.3330. 126,206,432 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 96% from the average session volume of 64,238,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NOK. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Nokia from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Danske lowered shares of Nokia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Nokia in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nokia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Northland Securities set a $13.00 target price on shares of Nokia in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.71.

Nokia Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.26 and a 200-day moving average of $7.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.07, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter. Nokia had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 9.22%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nokia Corporation will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Nokia Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.0468 per share. This represents a $0.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is a positive change from Nokia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 28th. Nokia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nokia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NOK. Analog Century Management LP acquired a new stake in Nokia during the fourth quarter worth about $104,244,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Nokia by 50.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 43,424,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $208,873,000 after acquiring an additional 14,482,665 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in Nokia by 166.4% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 20,388,202 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $163,921,000 after acquiring an additional 12,734,021 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Nokia by 35,010.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 12,655,143 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,871,000 after acquiring an additional 12,619,099 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Nokia by 17.0% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 80,329,917 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $386,387,000 after acquiring an additional 11,667,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.