Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 286,770 Shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) by 38.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455,170 shares of the company’s stock after selling 286,770 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Braze were worth $17,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Braze during the second quarter worth $308,000. EDBI Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Braze in the 2nd quarter valued at about $615,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Braze by 923.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 35,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 31,918 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Braze by 4.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Braze by 10.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 391,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,224,000 after purchasing an additional 38,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

Braze Trading Up 1.7 %

Braze stock opened at $35.13 on Monday. Braze, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.24 and a 1-year high of $61.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.04. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.45 and a beta of 1.07.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.12. Braze had a negative return on equity of 25.89% and a negative net margin of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $145.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.30) EPS. Braze’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Braze, Inc. will post -1.05 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Braze from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Braze from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Scotiabank raised Braze from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Braze from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Braze in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 3,447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $151,668.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 206,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,104,920. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 3,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $151,668.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 206,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,104,920. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 1,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.12, for a total transaction of $56,786.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 72,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,937.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,345 shares of company stock valued at $8,232,925 in the last 90 days. 24.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Braze Company Profile

Braze, Inc operates a customer engagement platform that provides interactions between consumers and brands worldwide. The company offers Braze software development kits that automatically manage data ingestion and deliver mobile and web notifications, in-application/in-browser interstitial messages, and content cards; REST API that can be used to import or export data or to trigger workflows between Braze and brands' existing technology stacks; Partner Data Integrations, which allow brands to sync user cohorts from partners; Data Transformation, in which brands can programmatically sync and transform user data; and Braze Cloud Data Ingestion that enables brands to harness their customer data.