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

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 7,702 call options on the company. This is an increase of 66% compared to the average daily volume of 4,628 call options.

Confluent Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:CFLT opened at $28.58 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 5.07 and a current ratio of 5.07. Confluent has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.86 and a beta of 0.91.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.04). Confluent had a negative net margin of 46.73% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The firm had revenue of $217.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.57 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Confluent will post -0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFLT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Confluent from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Confluent from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Confluent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Confluent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.93.

Insider Activity at Confluent

In other news, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 7,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total value of $232,061.56. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 161,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,148,020.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.17, for a total transaction of $6,084,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,841,610.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 7,261 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total transaction of $232,061.56. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 161,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,148,020.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 632,725 shares of company stock valued at $18,138,428. 13.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Confluent by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,741,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,505,000 after purchasing an additional 669,675 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 17.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,581,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,601,000 after buying an additional 2,587,169 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Confluent in the first quarter worth $181,075,000. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Confluent during the fourth quarter worth $134,132,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Confluent by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,551,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,910,000 after buying an additional 738,147 shares during 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.