Wolfspeed Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:WOLF)

Wolfspeed, Inc. (NYSE:WOLF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 54,369 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 72% compared to the average daily volume of 31,524 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WOLF shares. StockNews.com raised Wolfspeed to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Wolfspeed from $9.50 to $6.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Wolfspeed from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Wolfspeed from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Wolfspeed from $18.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.86.

Wolfspeed Price Performance

WOLF stock traded down $2.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2.80. The company had a trading volume of 96,848,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,266,715. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.15. Wolfspeed has a 12-month low of $2.71 and a 12-month high of $30.86. The company has a market capitalization of $356.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.36 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.26.

Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.20). Wolfspeed had a negative return on equity of 70.84% and a negative net margin of 125.96%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wolfspeed will post -4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Wolfspeed by 813.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,458,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,848,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189,500 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Wolfspeed by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,050,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,658,000 after acquiring an additional 995,020 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Wolfspeed during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,542,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Wolfspeed by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,207,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,040,000 after acquiring an additional 335,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wolfspeed by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,924,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,056,000 after acquiring an additional 299,304 shares during the last quarter.

About Wolfspeed

Wolfspeed, Inc operates as a powerhouse semiconductor company focuses on silicon carbide and gallium nitride (GaN) technologies in Europe, Hong Kong, China, rest of Asia-Pacific, the United States, and internationally. It offers silicon carbide and GaN materials, including silicon carbide bare wafers, epitaxial wafers, and GaN epitaxial layers on silicon carbide wafers to manufacture products for RF, power, and other applications.