Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Up 6.4% – Still a Buy?

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) shares rose 6.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $32.66 and last traded at $32.77. Approximately 2,180,950 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 4,184,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFLT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.15.

Confluent Stock Up 0.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of -29.39 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 3.99.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative net margin of 35.81% and a negative return on equity of 34.70%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rohan Sivaram sold 68,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $2,476,320.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 520,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,849,490.79. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.22, for a total transaction of $905,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 292,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,579,101.38. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,429,865 shares of company stock valued at $46,902,419. Company insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Confluent

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Confluent by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,828,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,207,000 after buying an additional 599,582 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Confluent by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,834,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,940,000 after purchasing an additional 133,908 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Confluent by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,409,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,339,000 after purchasing an additional 84,163 shares during the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Confluent by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,880,000 after purchasing an additional 459,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $81,092,000. 78.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Confluent Company Profile

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.