Confluent Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 29,019 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 214% compared to the average daily volume of 9,236 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $7,516,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,628,937.04. This represents a 33.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Kong Phan sold 3,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.86, for a total value of $85,280.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,621,419.76. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,200,746 shares of company stock worth $38,505,150. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Credit Industriel ET Commercial bought a new position in shares of Confluent in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Confluent by 354.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Confluent during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Confluent during the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 85.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Confluent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CFLT opened at $24.11 on Thursday. Confluent has a twelve month low of $17.79 and a twelve month high of $37.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.14 and its 200-day moving average is $27.28. The company has a quick ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.32 and a beta of 0.90.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative return on equity of 34.70% and a negative net margin of 35.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Confluent will post -0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CFLT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Confluent from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Confluent from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.15.

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.