Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Upgraded to Buy by Canaccord Genuity Group

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $35.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $28.00. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 25.76% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on CFLT. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Confluent from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Confluent from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Confluent in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Confluent from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.36.

Confluent Stock Down 2.8 %

CFLT opened at $27.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.25. Confluent has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $41.22. The company has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of -18.93 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Confluent

In other Confluent news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total transaction of $2,161,050.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 706,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,964,705.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 637,268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.73, for a total transaction of $20,220,513.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 302,306 shares in the company, valued at $9,592,169.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total transaction of $2,161,050.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 706,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,964,705.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,433,170 shares of company stock worth $46,438,029 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Confluent

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Confluent by 89.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 8,712 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Confluent by 1.5% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,071,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,720,000 after purchasing an additional 15,944 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank purchased a new stake in Confluent in the third quarter valued at $894,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Confluent during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,085,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent in the third quarter worth about $10,118,000. 78.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.