Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 131,493 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 77% compared to the average volume of 74,242 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George C. Mcnamee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.56, for a total transaction of $25,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 639,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,637,304.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PLUG. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 104.9% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 651,695 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,933,000 after acquiring an additional 333,708 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Plug Power by 183.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,656,282 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072,344 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Plug Power by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,064,304 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $15,689,000 after buying an additional 907,604 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 9.4% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 87,500 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $665,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its position in Plug Power by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 36,250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. 43.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plug Power Trading Up 23.2 %

NASDAQ PLUG traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 173,200,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,374,285. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.04 and a 200 day moving average of $3.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Plug Power has a twelve month low of $2.25 and a twelve month high of $13.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 1.64.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The electronics maker reported ($1.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.21 million. Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 43.10% and a negative net margin of 181.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.38) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Plug Power will post -0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLUG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of Plug Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $3.25 to $2.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC reduced their price target on Plug Power from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Plug Power from $3.50 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Plug Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Plug Power from $5.00 to $3.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.49.

About Plug Power

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.