Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $28.53, but opened at $27.47. Confluent shares last traded at $27.42, with a volume of 517,800 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total transaction of $6,809,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at $13,253,373.52. This represents a 33.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Matthew Craig Miller sold 1,084,259 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.90, for a total value of $31,335,085.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CFLT shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Confluent from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Confluent from $38.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Confluent from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.88.

Confluent Stock Down 5.1 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.58. The firm has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.39 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 4.24 and a quick ratio of 4.24.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $250.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.98 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 34.05% and a negative net margin of 38.35%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Confluent during the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Confluent by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Confluent by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Confluent during the 3rd quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Confluent by 25.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

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.