Investors Buy Large Volume of C3.ai Call Options (NYSE:AI)

Key Points

• Call-option trading surged: Investors bought 168,705 C3.ai call options, about 301% above average volume. The stock rose 2.2% to $11.63 in Friday trading.
• C3.ai modestly beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share and $52.38 million in revenue. Revenue fell 25.4% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Reduce,” with a $9.62 average price target—below the stock’s Friday price. Insiders also sold more than 1.4 million shares in the past quarter.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 168,705 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 301% compared to the average volume of 42,088 call options.

C3.ai Stock Up 2.2%

C3.ai stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.63. 2,821,224 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,838,601. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.05. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -3.77 and a beta of 2.17. C3.ai has a one year low of $7.68 and a one year high of $17.45.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 61.25% and a negative net margin of 192.10%. The company had revenue of $52.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $52.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.37) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that C3.ai will post -2.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $12.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, C3.ai presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $9.62.

Insider Activity

In other C3.ai news, CEO Thomas Siebel sold 435,363 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.82, for a total value of $5,145,990.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 722,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,538,318.84. This trade represents a 37.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 20,000 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.37, for a total value of $247,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 305,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,775,942.50. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,413,672 shares of company stock worth $15,577,026. 19.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On C3.ai

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of C3.ai in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in C3.ai by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 6,145 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in C3.ai by 1,510.1% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in C3.ai during the 3rd quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in C3.ai by 12.2% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

C3.ai Company Profile

C3.ai, Inc NYSE: AI is an enterprise artificial intelligence software company that develops applications and tools designed to help organizations deploy AI at scale. Its products support the development, integration and operation of AI applications using data from multiple business systems and sources.

The company's offerings include the C3 AI Platform, which provides capabilities for data management, machine learning, application development and model operations, as well as prebuilt applications for areas such as predictive maintenance, fraud detection, supply-chain optimization, customer engagement and energy management.

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