Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on C3.ai (NYSE:AI)

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 196,362 call options on the company. This is an increase of 380% compared to the typical volume of 40,951 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AI has been the topic of several research reports. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded C3.ai from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded C3.ai from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.70.

Insider Transactions at C3.ai

In related news, CEO Thomas M. Siebel sold 162,247 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.54, for a total value of $1,710,083.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 722,362 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,695.48. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 21,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.48, for a total transaction of $220,886.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 371,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,888,457.28. This represents a 5.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold a total of 1,117,809 shares of company stock valued at $11,724,230 over the last three months. 19.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of C3.ai by 418.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 177,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 143,303 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of C3.ai during the first quarter worth approximately $934,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of C3.ai by 55.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,282,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,302 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of C3.ai by 67.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,215,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,233,000 after purchasing an additional 488,710 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in C3.ai by 247.5% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 658,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,545,000 after purchasing an additional 469,057 shares in the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

C3.ai Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AI opened at $11.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.60. C3.ai has a 52 week low of $7.68 and a 52 week high of $20.22. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 2.11.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $52.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.06 million. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 192.10% and a negative return on equity of 61.25%. The company’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts predict that C3.ai will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

C3.ai Company Profile

C3.ai, Inc is an enterprise artificial intelligence software company that develops applications and tools designed to help organizations use AI and machine learning to analyze data, automate processes and support business decision-making. The company’s offerings are intended for large commercial enterprises, government agencies and other organizations managing complex operational and data environments.

Its product portfolio includes the C3 AI Platform, which provides capabilities for developing, deploying and operating AI applications, as well as prebuilt enterprise applications.