Loop Capital Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Stock Price

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) had its price objective lowered by Loop Capital from $34.00 to $30.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on CFLT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Confluent from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Confluent from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Confluent from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Confluent has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.33.

Confluent Price Performance

CFLT stock opened at $26.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.19 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Confluent has a 12-month low of $17.79 and a 12-month high of $37.90.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative net margin of 35.81% and a negative return on equity of 34.70%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Confluent will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of Confluent stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $7,516,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at $14,628,937.04. This trade represents a 33.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rohan Sivaram sold 68,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $2,476,320.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 520,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,849,490.79. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,201,518 shares of company stock valued at $38,533,306 in the last 90 days. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Confluent

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Confluent by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,828,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,207,000 after acquiring an additional 599,582 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Confluent by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,834,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,940,000 after buying an additional 133,908 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Confluent by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,409,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,339,000 after purchasing an additional 84,163 shares during the period. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Confluent by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,880,000 after acquiring an additional 459,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Confluent in the fourth quarter worth approximately $81,092,000. Institutional investors 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.