Smith Group Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Confluent in the fourth quarter worth about $745,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Confluent during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,046,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Confluent by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 561,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 94,405 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Confluent by 18,649.2% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 12,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Confluent during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,537,000. 78.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Confluent Stock Performance

Shares of CFLT stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.31. 1,944,247 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,198,136. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.70 and its 200-day moving average is $28.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 5.07 and a current ratio of 5.07. Confluent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $217.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.57 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 46.73%. On average, analysts expect that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Confluent

In other news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,599.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 706,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,908,165. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,599.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 706,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,908,165. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 68,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $2,112,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 168,338 shares in the company, valued at $5,228,578.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 632,725 shares of company stock valued at $18,138,428. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CFLT. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Confluent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Confluent from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Confluent from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Confluent in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Confluent in a research report on Friday, May 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.93.

Confluent 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.