Confluent Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 13,693 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 72% compared to the average daily volume of 7,944 call options.

Confluent Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CFLT traded up $1.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.62. 2,112,320 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,564,743. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of -29.23 and a beta of 0.92. Confluent has a 12-month low of $17.79 and a 12-month high of $37.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 3.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.17.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative net margin of 35.81% and a negative return on equity of 34.70%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Confluent will post -0.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CFLT shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Confluent from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Confluent from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Confluent from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Kong Phan sold 3,947 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.74, for a total value of $113,436.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 179,939 shares in the company, valued at $5,171,446.86. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Erica Schultz sold 113,729 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $3,444,851.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 502,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,218,422.96. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,394,730 shares of company stock valued at $45,827,255 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CFLT. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Confluent by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Confluent by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Confluent by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Confluent by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 21,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Confluent by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. now owns 14,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.