Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Ocean Power Technologies (NASDAQ:OPTT)

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTT) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 31,399 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 922% compared to the typical volume of 3,073 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ocean Power Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ocean Power Technologies by 31,555.8% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 68,693 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 68,476 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ocean Power Technologies by 29.4% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 374,187 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 84,920 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ocean Power Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Ocean Power Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Ocean Power Technologies in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1.50 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1.50.

Ocean Power Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Ocean Power Technologies stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $0.62. 98,988,992 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,164,148. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $0.40 and a 200-day moving average of $0.49. Ocean Power Technologies has a 12 month low of $0.29 and a 12 month high of $0.98. The company has a market cap of $119.90 million, a PE ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 2.39.

Ocean Power Technologies (NASDAQ:OPTT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 15th. The energy company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ocean Power Technologies had a negative net margin of 304.91% and a negative return on equity of 97.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS.

About Ocean Power Technologies

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: OPTT) is a renewable energy company that develops and commercializes systems to harness clean, reliable power from ocean waves. Headquartered in Pennington, New Jersey, the company’s core focus is on the design, engineering and deployment of its proprietary PowerBuoy® wave energy converter. By capturing the mechanical motion of surface waves and converting it into electrical energy, Ocean Power Technologies aims to deliver environmentally sustainable power solutions for offshore and remote operations.

The company’s primary product line, the PowerBuoy®, employs a point‐absorber design in which a floating buoy moves relative to a seabed‐anchored spar.