Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 11,965 call options on the company. This is an increase of 80% compared to the typical volume of 6,663 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CFLT. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Confluent in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Confluent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Confluent from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Confluent has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.77.

Confluent Price Performance

CFLT stock opened at $31.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.60 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.24. The company has a current ratio of 4.62, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Confluent has a 12-month low of $14.69 and a 12-month high of $41.22.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.01). Confluent had a negative net margin of 56.99% and a negative return on equity of 44.16%. The business had revenue of $213.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.62 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Confluent will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Confluent

In other Confluent news, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 8,086 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total value of $252,283.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 532,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,600,646.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 8,086 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $252,283.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 532,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,600,646.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lara Caimi sold 46,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.90, for a total transaction of $1,495,312.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $172,228.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,433,170 shares of company stock valued at $46,438,029 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Confluent in the first quarter valued at $26,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Confluent during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Confluent during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Confluent during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

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.