Confluent Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 11,965 call options on the company. This is an increase of 80% compared to the typical volume of 6,663 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Confluent news, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 8,086 shares of Confluent 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total value of $2,023,395.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 479,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,225,299.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 8,086 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $252,283.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 532,072 shares in the company, valued at $16,600,646.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,433,170 shares of company stock valued at $46,438,029. Company insiders own 13.82% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Confluent during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Confluent in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Confluent during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Confluent during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Confluent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CFLT traded up $3.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,941,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,853,520. The company has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.60 and a beta of 0.93. Confluent has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a current ratio of 4.62. The business's 50 day moving average price is $30.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.24.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $213.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.62 million. On average, analysts forecast that Confluent will post -0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on CFLT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Confluent from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Confluent in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Confluent from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Confluent from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.77.

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.