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

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 29,019 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 214% compared to the average daily volume of 9,236 call options.

Confluent Price Performance

NASDAQ CFLT traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.38. 2,010,113 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,358,257. Confluent has a 1-year low of $17.79 and a 1-year high of $37.90. The company has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.58 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 3.99.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Confluent will post -0.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Kong Phan sold 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.58, for a total transaction of $68,781.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 177,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,602,765.70. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total value of $7,516,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,628,937.04. This represents a 33.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,200,746 shares of company stock worth $38,505,150. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Confluent

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Confluent by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 223,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,236,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Confluent by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 8,204 shares during the last quarter. Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Confluent during the 4th quarter valued at $606,000. Infinitum Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Confluent during the 4th quarter valued at $10,485,000. Finally, Cache Advisors LLC bought a new position in Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at $1,322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFLT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Confluent from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Confluent from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.15.

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.