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

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading 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 trading hands.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Confluent from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Confluent from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on Confluent from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Confluent currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Confluent news, CAO Kong Phan sold 3,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.86, for a total transaction of $85,280.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 246,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,621,419.76. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erica Schultz sold 150,000 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total transaction of $5,373,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 678,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,286,533.12. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,200,746 shares of company stock valued at $38,505,150. 13.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Confluent

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CFLT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Confluent by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,284,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,549,000 after buying an additional 64,926 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Confluent by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 7,705 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Confluent by 1,465.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 30,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 28,360 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Confluent by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 42,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 14,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Circle Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Confluent by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Confluent Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.25. The company has a quick ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.36 and a beta of 0.90.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative net margin of 35.81% and a negative return on equity of 34.70%. Equities analysts predict that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.83 EPS 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.