Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) Short Interest Up 5.6% in September

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,670,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the September 15th total of 18,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days. Currently, 8.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Confluent

In related news, CMO Stephanie Buscemi sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total transaction of $83,814.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 161,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,070.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total value of $4,647,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at $9,045,235.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Stephanie Buscemi sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total value of $83,814.88. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 161,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,070.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 524,453 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,388. Company insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Confluent

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Confluent by 110.3% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 60,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 31,729 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in Confluent by 308.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 333,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,176,000 after acquiring an additional 251,507 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Confluent by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 305,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,022,000 after acquiring an additional 68,880 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Confluent in the 1st quarter valued at $1,181,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Confluent during the 2nd quarter valued at $193,403,000. Institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CFLT. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Confluent from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Confluent from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Confluent from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Confluent from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Confluent presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.79.

Confluent Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CFLT traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.32. 2,636,313 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,364,793. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.86 and a beta of 0.88. Confluent has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $35.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 4.44 and a current ratio of 4.44.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $234.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.49 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 37.78% and a negative net margin of 42.70%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Confluent will post -0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.