Serve Robotics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:SERV)

Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ:SERV) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 40,038 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 52% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,302 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SERV shares. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Serve Robotics in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Serve Robotics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Serve Robotics in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital set a $16.00 price target on shares of Serve Robotics in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Serve Robotics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Serve Robotics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.80.

Serve Robotics Price Performance

Serve Robotics stock traded up $2.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,318,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,309,021. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.47. Serve Robotics has a 12 month low of $4.66 and a 12 month high of $23.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.39 and a beta of 0.27.

Serve Robotics (NASDAQ:SERV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by ($0.17). Serve Robotics had a negative return on equity of 38.52% and a negative net margin of 4,121.58%.The company had revenue of $0.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.69 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Serve Robotics will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Serve Robotics

In other news, CFO Brian Read sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.05, for a total transaction of $97,875.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 344,270 shares in the company, valued at $4,492,723.50. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Euan Abraham sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total transaction of $449,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 250,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,196.61. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 187,262 shares of company stock worth $2,237,852. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Serve Robotics by 25.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,594,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,178,000 after purchasing an additional 521,945 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Serve Robotics by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,109,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,898,000 after buying an additional 112,718 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Serve Robotics by 176.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 878,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,054,000 after buying an additional 560,361 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Serve Robotics in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,840,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Serve Robotics by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 751,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,816,000 after acquiring an additional 57,905 shares during the period.

About Serve Robotics

Serve Robotics develops and operates autonomous sidewalk delivery robots designed to transform last-mile logistics for restaurants, retailers and grocery brands. By combining proprietary hardware, sensor suites and dispatch software, the company enables on-demand deliveries of food, beverages and consumer goods while minimizing reliance on traditional vehicle fleets.

The core Serve robot integrates four-wheeled mobility, LiDAR and vision cameras with AI-driven navigation algorithms to detect obstacles, traverse urban sidewalks and interact safely with pedestrians.