C3.ai Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AI)

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 77,063 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 105% compared to the typical volume of 37,663 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on C3.ai from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded C3.ai from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.67.

C3.ai Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AI opened at $8.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.64 and a beta of 2.06. C3.ai has a one year low of $7.68 and a one year high of $30.11.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 3rd. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $51.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.60 million. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 187.95% and a negative return on equity of 62.44%. The firm’s revenue was down 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that C3.ai will post -2.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 48,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.77, for a total transaction of $426,388.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 383,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,359,839.62. The trade was a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Stephen Bradley Ehikian sold 50,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $477,621.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 651,130 shares in the company, valued at $6,153,178.50. This represents a 7.20% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,155,144 shares of company stock worth $11,420,651. 26.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On C3.ai

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AI. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of C3.ai by 31.3% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 41,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares during the last quarter. Shearwater Capital LLC lifted its position in C3.ai by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Shearwater Capital LLC now owns 70,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in C3.ai by 14.6% in the second quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 11,388 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in C3.ai by 34.0% in the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 6,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in C3.ai by 1,510.1% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 6,433 shares in the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About C3.ai

C3.ai, Inc is a leading enterprise software provider focused on delivering scalable artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to large organizations. The company’s core offering, the C3 AI Suite, is a comprehensive, model-driven platform that unifies data ingestion, model development, and application deployment. Through its suite of tools, C3.ai enables customers to accelerate digital transformation initiatives by applying advanced machine learning, predictive analytics, and AI-driven insights across a broad range of business functions.

The C3 AI Suite provides a low-code environment for data scientists and application developers to rapidly design, test, and deploy enterprise-scale AI applications.