Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR)

Luminar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAZR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 15,793 call options on the company. This is an increase of 63% compared to the typical volume of 9,673 call options.

Luminar Technologies Stock Down 13.8 %

LAZR opened at $1.69 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1.74 and a 200-day moving average of $2.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $712.99 million, a P/E ratio of -1.15 and a beta of 1.54. Luminar Technologies has a 12-month low of $1.21 and a 12-month high of $8.32.

Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $22.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.25 million. On average, analysts expect that Luminar Technologies will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Luminar Technologies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Luminar Technologies by 11.1% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 126,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 12,651 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Luminar Technologies by 195.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 714,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 472,778 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Luminar Technologies by 45.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 356,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,624,000 after acquiring an additional 110,816 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Luminar Technologies by 18.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 58,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 8,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Luminar Technologies by 69.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 24,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 10,120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LAZR shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Luminar Technologies from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Luminar Technologies from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $1.20 price objective (down previously from $3.50) on shares of Luminar Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Luminar Technologies from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Luminar Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.24.

Luminar Technologies Company Profile

Luminar Technologies, Inc, an automotive technology company, provides sensor technologies and software for passenger cars and commercial trucks in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. It operates in two segments, Autonomy Solutions and Advanced Technologies and Services. The Autonomy Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and sells laser imaging, detection, and ranging sensors or lidars, as well as related perception and autonomy software solutions primarily for original equipment manufacturers in the automobile, commercial vehicle, robo-taxi, and adjacent industries.