Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $37.00. The stock had previously closed at $27.83, but opened at $30.29. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Confluent shares last traded at $30.00, with a volume of 4,158,559 shares traded.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital began coverage on Confluent in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Confluent in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Confluent in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Confluent from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Stephanie Buscemi sold 2,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.15, for a total transaction of $87,576.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 109,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,504,414.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total value of $2,161,050.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 706,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,964,705.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Stephanie Buscemi sold 2,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.15, for a total transaction of $87,576.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 109,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,504,414.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,433,170 shares of company stock valued at $46,438,029 in the last 90 days. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Confluent in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Confluent during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Confluent during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 78.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Confluent Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.53 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.23 and its 200-day moving average is $26.24.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $213.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.62 million. Confluent had a negative net margin of 56.99% and a negative return on equity of 44.16%. On average, analysts forecast that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.92 EPS for the current year.

About Confluent

Confluent, Inc operates a data streaming platform in the United States and internationally. The company provides platforms that allow customers to connect their applications, systems, and data layers, such as Confluent Cloud, a managed cloud-native software-as-a-service; and Confluent Platform, an enterprise-grade self-managed software.