Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on XPENG (NYSE:XPEV)

XPENG Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:XPEV) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 46,181 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 101% compared to the average volume of 22,952 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on XPEV shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of XPENG in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays cut their target price on XPENG from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.20 price target on shares of XPENG in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of XPENG in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of XPENG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.40.

XPENG Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE XPEV traded down $0.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.78. 6,159,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,851,747. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.63 and a beta of 1.13. XPENG has a 1 year low of $11.73 and a 1 year high of $28.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.28.

XPENG (NYSE:XPEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.16). XPENG had a negative net margin of 3.09% and a negative return on equity of 7.72%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that XPENG will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On XPENG

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XPEV. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of XPENG by 33.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of XPENG by 29.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 127,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 28,983 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in XPENG by 11.0% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in XPENG by 161.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Finally, Kickstand Ventures LLC. bought a new stake in shares of XPENG during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.09% of the company’s stock.

About XPENG

XPENG Inc (NYSE: XPEV) is a China-based developer and manufacturer of smart electric vehicles. The company designs, engineers and sells battery-electric sedans and sport-utility vehicles along with related software and services. Founded in 2014, XPENG positions itself as a technology-driven automaker with a focus on vehicle connectivity, software-defined features and advanced driver assistance systems.

Product offerings center on passenger EVs spanning compact crossovers and midsize sedans, supported by in-house software platforms and over-the-air update capabilities.