Ouster (NASDAQ:OUST) Trading Up 9.9% – Still a Buy?

Ouster, Inc. (NASDAQ:OUST) shot up 9.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $45.36 and last traded at $46.2850. Approximately 493,276 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 3,272,258 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OUST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Ouster in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Northland Securities set a $60.00 price target on Ouster and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings started coverage on Ouster in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “sell (d-)” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Ouster from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ouster in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.67.

Ouster Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.63 and a beta of 3.24.

Ouster (NASDAQ:OUST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $54.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.47 million. Ouster had a negative return on equity of 17.49% and a negative net margin of 26.02%. Research analysts expect that Ouster, Inc. will post -1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles Angus Pacala sold 29,797 shares of Ouster stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.82, for a total transaction of $1,156,719.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,072,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,622,842.82. This trade represents a 2.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mark Frichtl sold 308,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.53, for a total value of $12,822,055.26. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 294,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,193.72. This trade represents a 51.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 558,320 shares of company stock worth $22,737,568. Company insiders own 5.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ouster

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OUST. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ouster during the first quarter worth $2,436,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ouster by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 483,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,889,000 after purchasing an additional 32,440 shares during the period. Bastion Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ouster in the first quarter valued at $5,271,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Ouster by 706.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 177,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,268,000 after purchasing an additional 155,825 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Ouster by 87.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 193,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,560,000 after purchasing an additional 90,597 shares during the last quarter. 31.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ouster Company Profile

Ouster, Inc is a leading provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors, software and services designed to enable advanced perception capabilities across a range of industries. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company develops modular lidar solutions that capture precise three-dimensional data in real time, supporting applications from autonomous vehicles and robotics to mapping, smart infrastructure and industrial automation.

The company’s core product lineup features multi-beam digital lidar units available in various form factors, including compact models for robotics and drones and larger units for automotive and mapping systems.