Braze, Inc. $BRZE is Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s 8th Largest Position

Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) by 15.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,780,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 240,000 shares during the period. Braze makes up 4.5% of Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 1.60% of Braze worth $50,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Braze by 42.6% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 124,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,546,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Braze in the third quarter worth about $263,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Braze by 54.8% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,291,000 after buying an additional 28,518 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Braze by 421.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,279,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,394,000 after buying an additional 1,034,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Braze by 578.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 315,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,974,000 after buying an additional 269,051 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Braze

In related news, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 7,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $125,129.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,692,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,661,355.69. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO William Magnuson sold 26,413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $447,172.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,491,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,034,289.14. This represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,216 shares of company stock valued at $1,225,772. 18.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BRZE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Braze from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Braze from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Braze in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Braze in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.65.

Braze Trading Up 1.0%

Braze stock opened at $18.77 on Friday. Braze, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.26 and a 12-month high of $43.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -17.06 and a beta of 1.08.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. The company had revenue of $190.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.25 million. Braze had a negative net margin of 16.85% and a negative return on equity of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.