Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $28.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CFLT. DA Davidson reissued a buy rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Confluent from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Confluent from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Confluent from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 a consensus price target of $29.97.

Confluent Price Performance

CFLT stock opened at $19.69 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.23 and a 200-day moving average of $26.24. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.75 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.44, a quick ratio of 4.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Confluent has a 12-month low of $14.69 and a 12-month high of $35.07.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $234.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.49 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 37.78% and a negative net margin of 42.70%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Confluent will post -0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Confluent

In related news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total transaction of $4,912,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 452,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,561,071.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total transaction of $4,912,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,561,071.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 13,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total value of $293,547.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 496,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,770,775.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 524,453 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,388 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFLT. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Confluent in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Confluent in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $68,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Confluent by 125.0% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Confluent by 40.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

About Confluent

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.