C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) Stock Rated "Reduce" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts broadly remain bearish: C3.ai has a consensus “Reduce” rating, with seven sell ratings, four holds and one buy. The average 12-month price target is $8.70, below the stock’s cited $11.01 price.
• Insiders have been selling shares: Executives sold 1.12 million shares worth approximately $11.7 million over the past 90 days, including sizable sales by the CEO and CFO.
• Operating performance remains weak: C3.ai beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, but revenue declined 25.4% year over year, while the company reported a negative net margin of 192.1% and analysts expect a full-year loss.

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

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of C3.ai from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group restated an "underperform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas Siebel sold 453,314 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.51, for a total transaction of $4,764,330.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 722,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,024.62. The trade was a 38.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. Also, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 21,077 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.48, for a total value of $220,886.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 371,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,888,457.28. This represents a 5.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,117,809 shares of company stock worth $11,724,230. 19.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of C3.ai by 418.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 177,527 shares of the company's stock worth $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 143,303 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of C3.ai during the 1st quarter valued at $934,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of C3.ai by 55.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,282,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,636,000 after buying an additional 1,166,302 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in C3.ai by 67.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,215,341 shares of the company's stock worth $10,233,000 after buying an additional 488,710 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in C3.ai by 247.5% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 658,573 shares of the company's stock worth $5,545,000 after buying an additional 469,057 shares during the period. 38.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

C3.ai Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AI opened at $11.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 2.11. C3.ai has a 1 year low of $7.68 and a 1 year high of $20.22. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $10.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.60.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $52.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.06 million. C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 61.25% and a negative net margin of 192.10%.C3.ai's revenue for the quarter was down 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.37) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that C3.ai will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

C3.ai Company Profile

C3.ai, Inc is an enterprise artificial intelligence software company that develops applications and tools designed to help organizations use AI and machine learning to analyze data, automate processes and support business decision-making. The company's offerings are intended for large commercial enterprises, government agencies and other organizations managing complex operational and data environments.

Its product portfolio includes the C3 AI Platform, which provides capabilities for developing, deploying and operating AI applications, as well as prebuilt enterprise applications.

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