Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL)

Gotham Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sezzle by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,387,000 after buying an additional 3,853 shares during the period. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC increased its stake in Sezzle by 275.9% in the fourth quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC now owns 102,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,141,000 after purchasing an additional 75,007 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Sezzle by 792.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 79,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,460,000 after purchasing an additional 71,019 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Sezzle by 912.8% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 21,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 19,014 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Sezzle by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.83 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Sezzle Stock Performance

SEZL stock opened at $99.13 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.57. Sezzle Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.76 and a twelve month high of $101.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 8.41.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $271.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.90 million. Sezzle had a return on equity of 101.18% and a net margin of 25.29%. Analysts predict that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sezzle declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul Paradis sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 315,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,625,000. This trade represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 311,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.83, for a total value of $22,353,208.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 154,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,080,926.78. This represents a 66.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 426,396 shares of company stock worth $32,422,491. Company insiders own 49.49% of the company’s stock.

Sezzle Profile

Sezzle Inc operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks.