Plug Power Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 114,907 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 44% compared to the average volume of 79,527 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heights Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Plug Power in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,174,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 59.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,980,865 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,301,000 after buying an additional 6,364,483 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,368,845 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $123,348,000 after buying an additional 3,930,342 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 365,934.4% during the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,795,777 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,656,000 after buying an additional 3,794,740 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,071,904 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,872,000 after buying an additional 3,125,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 43.48% of the company’s stock.

Plug Power Stock Down 3.4%

Plug Power stock opened at $2.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 2.23. Plug Power has a 1-year low of $0.69 and a 1-year high of $3.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The electronics maker reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $173.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.97 million. Plug Power had a negative net margin of 292.84% and a negative return on equity of 90.22%. Research analysts anticipate that Plug Power will post -1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PLUG. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.00 to $1.80 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $0.90 to $1.60 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.10 to $1.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Plug Power to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $1.88.

Plug Power Company Profile

Plug Power Inc develops hydrogen and fuel cell product solutions in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers GenDrive, a hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system that provides power to material handling electric vehicles; GenSure, a stationary fuel cell solution that offers modular PEM fuel cell power to support the backup and grid-support power requirements of the telecommunications, transportation, and utility sectors; ProGen, a fuel cell stack and engine technology used in mobility and stationary fuel cell systems, and as engines in electric delivery vans; GenFuel, a liquid hydrogen fueling delivery, generation, storage, and dispensing system; GenCare, an ongoing Internet of Things-based maintenance and on-site service program for GenDrive fuel cell systems, GenSure fuel cell systems, GenFuel hydrogen storage and dispensing products, and ProGen fuel cell engines; and GenKey, an integrated turn-key solution for transitioning to fuel cell power.