Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Serve Robotics (NASDAQ:SERV)

Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ:SERV) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 25,354 call options on the company. This is an increase of 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,467 call options.

Serve Robotics Trading Down 4.4%

SERV stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,847,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,121,074. Serve Robotics has a 12 month low of $6.10 and a 12 month high of $18.64. The company has a market cap of $473.89 million, a PE ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.51 and its 200-day moving average is $9.94.

Serve Robotics (NASDAQ:SERV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($0.08). Serve Robotics had a negative net margin of 2,639.98% and a negative return on equity of 47.31%. The company had revenue of $2.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 million. Analysts expect that Serve Robotics will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ali Kashani sold 15,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.24, for a total transaction of $115,007.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,278,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,733,378.84. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Touraj Parang sold 5,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.29, for a total transaction of $55,674.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,306,351 shares in the company, valued at $12,136,000.79. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 91,250 shares of company stock worth $768,253 in the last quarter. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Serve Robotics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SERV. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Serve Robotics in the third quarter valued at $8,840,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Serve Robotics by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,594,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,178,000 after purchasing an additional 521,945 shares in the last quarter. Creek Drive Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Serve Robotics in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,912,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Serve Robotics by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,137,000 after purchasing an additional 328,405 shares during the period. Finally, Grange Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Serve Robotics during the first quarter worth $2,426,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Serve Robotics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Serve Robotics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their price objective on shares of Serve Robotics from $15.00 to $16.60 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Guggenheim started coverage on Serve Robotics in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Serve Robotics from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.51.

About Serve Robotics

Serve Robotics develops and operates autonomous sidewalk delivery robots designed to transform last-mile logistics for restaurants, retailers and grocery brands. By combining proprietary hardware, sensor suites and dispatch software, the company enables on-demand deliveries of food, beverages and consumer goods while minimizing reliance on traditional vehicle fleets.

The core Serve robot integrates four-wheeled mobility, LiDAR and vision cameras with AI-driven navigation algorithms to detect obstacles, traverse urban sidewalks and interact safely with pedestrians.