Ouster (NASDAQ:OUST) Trading Up 8.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Ouster, Inc. (NASDAQ:OUST) shot up 8.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $38.10 and last traded at $38.6610. Approximately 1,797,784 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 3,286,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Ouster in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Ouster from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Ouster from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Northland Securities set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ouster and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on shares of Ouster in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “sell (d-)” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.67.

Ouster Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.16 and a beta of 3.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.96.

Ouster (NASDAQ:OUST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $48.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.15 million. Ouster had a negative net margin of 30.12% and a negative return on equity of 21.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.42) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ouster, Inc. will post -1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Cyrille Jacquemet sold 9,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $377,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 123,158 shares in the company, valued at $4,926,320. This represents a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Mark Frichtl sold 308,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.53, for a total value of $12,822,055.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 294,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,193.72. This represents a 51.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 749,354 shares of company stock worth $28,542,907 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ouster

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ouster by 610.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 296,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 254,580 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ouster by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 28,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Ouster by 138.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 5,796 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ouster by 22.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Ouster by 1,521.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 571,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,863,000 after purchasing an additional 536,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.45% of the company’s stock.

Ouster Company Profile

Ouster, Inc is a leading provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors, software and services designed to enable advanced perception capabilities across a range of industries. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company develops modular lidar solutions that capture precise three-dimensional data in real time, supporting applications from autonomous vehicles and robotics to mapping, smart infrastructure and industrial automation.

The company’s core product lineup features multi-beam digital lidar units available in various form factors, including compact models for robotics and drones and larger units for automotive and mapping systems.