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

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 199,500 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 412% compared to the typical volume of 38,935 call options.

Insider Activity at C3.ai

In related news, CEO Thomas Siebel sold 162,247 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.54, for a total transaction of $1,710,083.38. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 21,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.48, for a total value of $220,886.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 371,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,888,457.28. The trade was a 5.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 1,216,970 shares of company stock valued at $12,628,241 in the last 90 days. 19.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of C3.ai

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of C3.ai in the first quarter valued at $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of C3.ai during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of C3.ai in the 4th quarter worth about $71,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in C3.ai by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 6,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in C3.ai by 1,510.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 6,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.96% of the company’s stock.

C3.ai Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE AI opened at $10.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.41 and a beta of 2.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.48. C3.ai has a 1-year low of $7.68 and a 1-year high of $20.22.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $52.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.06 million. C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 61.25% and a negative net margin of 192.10%.The firm’s revenue was down 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.37) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that C3.ai will post -2.22 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.70.

About C3.ai

C3.ai, Inc develops enterprise artificial intelligence software and applications for organizations in a range of industries. Its technology is designed to help businesses use data, machine learning and predictive analytics to address operational, financial and strategic challenges.

The company’s offerings include the C3 AI Platform, which provides tools for developing, deploying and operating AI applications, as well as prebuilt applications for use cases such as predictive maintenance, fraud detection, supply-chain optimization, customer engagement, energy management and regulatory compliance.