Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Trading Up 8% – Still a Buy?

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)’s share price rose 8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $30.64 and last traded at $31.25. Approximately 922,093 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 3,196,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Confluent from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Confluent from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Confluent from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.37.

Confluent Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.58 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 4.24.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.98 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 34.05% and a negative net margin of 38.35%. Equities research analysts predict that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Confluent

In related news, CAO Kong Phan sold 2,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.23, for a total transaction of $59,170.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 190,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,896.40. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lara Caimi sold 34,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.32, for a total transaction of $1,080,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,251.20. This trade represents a 82.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,584,712 shares of company stock worth $132,928,936. Company insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Confluent

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Confluent by 354.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the third quarter valued at $68,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Confluent by 85.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Confluent by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Finally, DMC Group LLC purchased a new position in Confluent during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

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.