Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Stock Price Down 4.9% – Should You Sell?

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) was down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $15.54 and last traded at $15.6590. Approximately 121,897,387 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 72% from the average daily volume of 70,927,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NOK shares. Arete Research upgraded shares of Nokia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Nordea Equity Research upgraded shares of Nokia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Santander raised shares of Nokia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nokia in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Nokia in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nokia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.71.

Nokia Stock Down 4.9%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $10.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.92 billion, a PE ratio of 97.87, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.12.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter. Nokia had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 9.22%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nokia Corporation will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nokia Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.0468 per share. This is an increase from Nokia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 28th. Nokia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Nokia by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 91,942,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $594,868,000 after purchasing an additional 11,612,590 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Nokia by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 47,321,058 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $306,167,000 after buying an additional 3,896,363 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Nokia by 166.4% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 20,388,202 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $163,921,000 after buying an additional 12,734,021 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in Nokia by 171.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 17,490,101 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,161,000 after buying an additional 11,035,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Folketrygdfondet increased its holdings in Nokia by 66.6% in the third quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 17,380,530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,600,000 after buying an additional 6,950,487 shares in the last quarter. 5.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nokia

Nokia Corporation, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a global telecommunications and technology company with roots dating back to 1865. Over its long history the company moved from forestry and cable operations into electronics and telecommunications, becoming widely known in the 1990s and 2000s for its mobile phones. In recent years Nokia refocused its business toward network infrastructure, software and technology licensing, and research and development, following the divestiture of its handset manufacturing business and the acquisition of Alcatel‑Lucent in 2016, which brought Bell Labs into its portfolio.

Today Nokia’s core activities center on designing, building and supporting communications networks and related software.