Ouster Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:OUST)

Ouster, Inc. (NYSE:OUST) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 2,205 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 51% compared to the typical volume of 1,456 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ouster

In other Ouster news, CEO Charles Angus Pacala bought 50,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.79 per share, for a total transaction of $498,839.66. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 769,957 shares in the company, valued at $7,537,879.03. The trade was a 7.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Weinswig sold 31,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.72, for a total value of $273,781.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 198,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,732,228. The trade was a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,415 shares of company stock valued at $748,620 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Ouster during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ouster during the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ouster during the second quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ouster during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, True North Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ouster in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Institutional investors own 31.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OUST. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ouster from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ouster to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Ouster in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Northland Securities began coverage on Ouster in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.17.

Ouster Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OUST opened at $10.42 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.19. Ouster has a fifty-two week low of $4.65 and a fifty-two week high of $16.88. The company has a market capitalization of $518.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 2.50.

About Ouster

Ouster, Inc provides lidar sensors for the automotive, industrial, robotics, and smart infrastructure industries in Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Its products include high-resolution scanning and solid-state digital lidar sensors, analog lidar sensors, and software solutions.