Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on C3.ai (NYSE:AI)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Investors purchased 196,362 C3.ai call options, roughly 380% above the typical daily volume of 40,951 contracts.
• Mixed financial performance: C3.ai beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, but revenue fell 25.4% year over year and the company continued to report substantial losses.
• Analysts remain cautious: The stock has an average “Reduce” rating and an $8.70 price target, while insiders have sold more than 1.1 million shares worth approximately $11.7 million over the past 90 days.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 196,362 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 380% compared to the typical daily volume of 40,951 call options.

C3.ai Price Performance

Shares of C3.ai stock opened at $11.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.27 and a 200 day moving average of $9.60. C3.ai has a 12 month low of $7.68 and a 12 month high of $20.22.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business 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 61.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.37) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that C3.ai will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at C3.ai

In other news, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 21,077 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.48, for a total transaction of $220,886.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 371,036 shares in the company, valued at $3,888,457.28. The trade was a 5.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Thomas Siebel sold 162,247 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.54, for a total value of $1,710,083.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 722,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,613,695.48. This trade represents a 18.34% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 1,117,809 shares of company stock worth $11,724,230. 19.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On C3.ai

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in C3.ai by 55.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,282,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,302 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of C3.ai by 67.3% during 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of C3.ai by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 690,694 shares of the company's stock worth $5,816,000 after buying an additional 5,631 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of C3.ai by 247.5% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 658,573 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,545,000 after buying an additional 469,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EVR Research LP grew its position in shares of C3.ai by 223.8% in the 4th quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 600,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,093,000 after buying an additional 415,000 shares during the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AI shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. UBS Group restated an "underperform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded C3.ai from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $8.70.

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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