Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $35.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.33, but opened at $23.02. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Confluent shares last traded at $23.24, with a volume of 588,059 shares changing hands.

CFLT has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Confluent from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Confluent from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Confluent from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Confluent from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rohan Sivaram sold 68,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $2,476,320.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 520,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,849,490.79. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 25,000 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.22, for a total transaction of $905,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 292,079 shares in the company, valued at $10,579,101.38. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,200,746 shares of company stock valued at $38,505,150 in the last quarter. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Confluent

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Confluent by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 2,367 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Confluent by 1,465.6% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 30,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 28,360 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Confluent in the third quarter worth about $868,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the fourth quarter valued at $758,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Confluent by 135.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 648,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,146,000 after acquiring an additional 373,682 shares in the last quarter. 78.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Confluent Stock Up 0.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.31. The firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.81 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative return on equity of 34.70% and a negative net margin of 35.81%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.