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

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 93,827 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 74% compared to the average volume of 54,011 call options.

C3.ai Price Performance

NYSE AI traded up $1.38 on Thursday, reaching $22.79. 4,925,190 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,925,563. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -9.73 and a beta of 1.81. C3.ai has a 12 month low of $18.85 and a 12 month high of $38.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.53.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.08. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 85.47% and a negative return on equity of 31.28%. The company had revenue of $87.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.56) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that C3.ai will post -2.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at C3.ai

In related news, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 3,005 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.56, for a total value of $82,817.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,668.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 34.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On C3.ai

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of C3.ai by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,820 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in C3.ai by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in C3.ai by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 32,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in C3.ai by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 706,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,289,000 after acquiring an additional 66,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of C3.ai by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AI shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on C3.ai from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of C3.ai from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on C3.ai from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.70.

About C3.ai

C3.ai, Inc operates as an enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company provides C3 AI platform, an application development and runtime environment that enables customers to design, develop, and deploy enterprise AI applications; C3 AI Ex Machina for analysis-ready data; C3 AI CRM, an industry specific customer relationship management solution; and C3 Generative AI Product Suite that enables to locate, retrieve, and present information.