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

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 126,333 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 122% compared to the average daily volume of 56,821 call options.

C3.ai Stock Performance

Shares of AI opened at $8.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of -2.74 and a beta of 2.08. C3.ai has a fifty-two week low of $7.68 and a fifty-two week high of $30.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.62.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.11). C3.ai had a negative net margin of 141.35% and a negative return on equity of 55.40%. The business had revenue of $53.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. C3.ai’s revenue for the quarter was down 46.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that C3.ai will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jim H. Snabe bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.00 per share, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 395,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,555,000. This trade represents a 6.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen Bradley Ehikian sold 52,194 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.22, for a total transaction of $429,034.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 721,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,930,606.70. The trade was a 6.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,653,886 shares of company stock worth $18,506,063. 26.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On C3.ai

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AI. Silicon Valley Capital Partners bought a new position in shares of C3.ai during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in C3.ai by 683.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in C3.ai by 66.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in C3.ai by 76.4% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in C3.ai by 839.1% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares in the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AI. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $10.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Citizens Jmp downgraded C3.ai from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wedbush lowered their price target on C3.ai from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets set a $7.00 price objective on C3.ai in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, C3.ai has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $15.87.

About C3.ai

C3.ai, Inc is a leading enterprise software provider focused on delivering scalable artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to large organizations. The company’s core offering, the C3 AI Suite, is a comprehensive, model-driven platform that unifies data ingestion, model development, and application deployment. Through its suite of tools, C3.ai enables customers to accelerate digital transformation initiatives by applying advanced machine learning, predictive analytics, and AI-driven insights across a broad range of business functions.

The C3 AI Suite provides a low-code environment for data scientists and application developers to rapidly design, test, and deploy enterprise-scale AI applications.