C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts assign C3.ai a consensus “Reduce” rating: Seven of 12 analysts recommend selling, four advise holding and one recommends buying. The average 12-month price target is $8.70, below the reported share price of $10.38.
• C3.ai exceeded quarterly expectations with an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share versus the $0.26 consensus loss, while revenue of $52.38 million slightly topped estimates. However, revenue fell 25.4% year over year, and the company posted a negative net margin of 192.1%.
• Insiders sold heavily: Company insiders sold 1.26 million shares worth approximately $13.3 million over the past three months, though the cited executive sales were intended to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.70.

A number of equities analysts have commented on AI shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of C3.ai from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of C3.ai from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, June 4th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen Ehikian sold 50,542 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $477,621.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 651,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,153,178.50. This trade represents a 7.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 48,619 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.77, for a total value of $426,388.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 383,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,359,839.62. The trade was a 11.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,258,650 shares of company stock worth $13,258,862. 19.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of C3.ai by 683.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in C3.ai by 76.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,849 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in C3.ai by 839.1% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,423 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in C3.ai by 48.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,442 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in C3.ai during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 38.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

C3.ai Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of AI opened at $10.38 on Thursday. C3.ai has a 12-month low of $7.68 and a 12-month high of $20.22. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of -3.37 and a beta of 2.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.42.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $52.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $52.06 million. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 192.10% and a negative return on equity of 60.82%. C3.ai's revenue for the quarter was down 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.37) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that C3.ai will post -2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

C3.ai Company Profile

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.

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