Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $27.83, but opened at $30.29. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Confluent shares last traded at $30.00, with a volume of 4,158,559 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Confluent in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Confluent from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Confluent in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Confluent currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 4,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.15, for a total transaction of $132,104.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 123,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,970,428.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 4,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.15, for a total value of $132,104.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 123,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,970,428.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.46, for a total value of $7,546,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 732,173 shares of company stock worth $24,194,120. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CFLT. Coatue Management LLC purchased a new stake in Confluent during the 4th quarter worth approximately $134,132,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 13.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,424,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,546,000 after buying an additional 2,125,843 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Confluent during the fourth quarter worth $37,046,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the fourth quarter valued at $31,145,000. Finally, CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new position in shares of Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at $29,833,000. 78.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Confluent Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.20 and a 200-day moving average of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 4.62 and a current ratio of 4.62. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of -21.35 and a beta of 0.93.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.01). Confluent had a negative net margin of 56.99% and a negative return on equity of 44.16%. The firm had revenue of $213.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.62 million. Equities analysts predict that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current 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.