Confluent Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 14,014 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 49% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,415 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CFLT shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Confluent from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Confluent from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Confluent from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 452,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,628,937.04. The trade was a 33.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lara Caimi sold 34,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.32, for a total value of $1,080,540.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,251.20. The trade was a 82.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,248,478 shares of company stock worth $40,003,844. Insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CFLT. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Confluent by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,700,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,083,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,841 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Confluent during the fourth quarter worth about $81,092,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Confluent by 7,342.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,351,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,748,000 after buying an additional 2,319,919 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,658,000. Finally, MIG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Confluent in the fourth quarter valued at $27,007,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Confluent Stock Performance

Confluent stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $24.81. 4,560,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,237,320. The stock has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.94 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $29.85 and its 200 day moving average is $26.68. 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 has a 52-week low of $17.79 and a 52-week high of $37.90.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative net margin of 35.81% and a negative return on equity of 34.70%. Analysts predict that Confluent will post -0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.