Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Shares of Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $23.07, but opened at $27.61. Confluent shares last traded at $28.00, with a volume of 3,075,631 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.03. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 34.97% and a negative net margin of 38.35%. The company had revenue of $250.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.98 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Confluent from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Confluent from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Confluent from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Confluent

In other news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total transaction of $4,647,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,045,235.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Confluent 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 161,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,505,070.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total value of $4,647,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,045,235.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 524,453 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,388 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFLT. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Confluent by 75,257.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 36,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 36,876 shares during the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC raised its stake in Confluent by 323.7% during the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 264,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 201,721 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Confluent in the third quarter worth about $21,127,000. Janney Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Confluent by 52.2% in the third quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 19,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 6,842 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Confluent by 307.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 12,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Confluent Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 4.44 and a quick ratio of 4.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.67. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.62 and a beta of 0.88.

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.