Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Trading Down 9.4% – Time to Sell?

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) shares fell 9.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $22.10 and last traded at $22.0310. 1,831,518 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 3,103,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRZE has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Braze from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Braze from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Braze from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Braze from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

Braze Trading Down 9.8%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.96 and a 200-day moving average of $25.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -17.98 and a beta of 0.78.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.04). Braze had a negative return on equity of 18.75% and a negative net margin of 17.78%.The company had revenue of $205.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Braze, Inc. will post -0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Magnuson sold 26,413 shares of Braze stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $447,172.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,491,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,034,289.14. This trade represents a 0.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 7,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $125,129.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,692,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,661,355.69. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 95,676 shares of company stock worth $1,737,811 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Braze

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Braze during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Braze in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Braze by 3,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Braze by 821.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Braze during the third quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

About Braze

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company (NASDAQ: BRZE) that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze’s platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.