Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $40.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Confluent traded as high as $35.72 and last traded at $35.48, with a volume of 5915059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.10.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on CFLT. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Confluent from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Confluent from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Confluent from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.78.

Insider Transactions at Confluent

In related news, CMO Stephanie Buscemi sold 5,271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.23, for a total transaction of $148,800.33. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 144,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,075,649.79. This represents a 3.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Kong Phan sold 2,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.23, for a total value of $59,170.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 190,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,896.40. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,508,636 shares of company stock worth $47,198,798 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Confluent by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,700,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,083,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,841 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Confluent during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $81,092,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Confluent by 7,342.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,351,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,919 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Confluent in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,127,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Confluent by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,513,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,224,000 after purchasing an additional 802,353 shares during the last quarter. 78.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Confluent Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 4.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.01 and a beta of 0.92.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 34.05% and a negative net margin of 38.35%. Analysts forecast that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.