Confluent Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 7,702 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 66% compared to the average volume of 4,628 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 8,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.76, for a total value of $222,429.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 510,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,656,885.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 8,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.76, for a total value of $222,429.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 510,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,656,885.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lara Caimi sold 9,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $290,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,399 shares in the company, valued at $167,369. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 632,725 shares of company stock valued at $18,138,428. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Confluent

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Confluent by 8.7% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 10,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Lane Advisors LLC bought a new position in Confluent in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,914,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Confluent by 209.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 31,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 21,646 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Confluent during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,376,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Confluent by 24.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,319,000 after buying an additional 228,429 shares in the last quarter. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CFLT. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Confluent in a report on Friday, May 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Confluent from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Confluent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Confluent from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.93.

Confluent Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of CFLT stock opened at $28.58 on Thursday. Confluent has a 12 month low of $14.69 and a 12 month high of $41.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.17. The stock has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.86 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 5.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.04). Confluent had a negative net margin of 46.73% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The company had revenue of $217.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.57 million. On average, research analysts expect that Confluent will post -0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

About Confluent

Confluent, Inc operates a data streaming platform in the United States and internationally. The company provides platforms that allow customers to connect their applications, systems, and data layers, such as Confluent Cloud, a managed cloud-native software-as-a-service; and Confluent Platform, an enterprise-grade self-managed software.