Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 11,965 call options on the company. This is an increase of 80% compared to the average volume of 6,663 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Confluent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Confluent from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Confluent from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Confluent from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Confluent from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Confluent presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.72.

Confluent Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CFLT traded up $2.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.89. The company had a trading volume of 4,960,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,773,730. Confluent has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.35 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 4.62 and a quick ratio of 4.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.24.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.01). Confluent had a negative net margin of 56.99% and a negative return on equity of 44.16%. The firm had revenue of $213.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.62 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Confluent will post -0.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Confluent

In related news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total value of $2,023,395.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 479,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,299.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Confluent news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total value of $2,023,395.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 479,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,225,299.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 637,268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.73, for a total value of $20,220,513.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 302,306 shares in the company, valued at $9,592,169.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,433,170 shares of company stock valued at $46,438,029 over the last three months. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Confluent

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFLT. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Confluent by 89.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 8,712 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 26,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Confluent by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,071,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,720,000 after acquiring an additional 15,944 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in Confluent during the 3rd quarter worth about $894,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,085,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Confluent Company Profile

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.