Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,670,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the September 15th total of 18,630,000 shares. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Confluent Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CFLT opened at $22.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.44, a quick ratio of 4.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of -17.86 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.16. Confluent has a 12-month low of $14.69 and a 12-month high of $35.07.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $234.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.49 million. Confluent had a negative net margin of 42.70% and a negative return on equity of 37.78%. As a group, analysts expect that Confluent will post -0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Confluent

In other Confluent news, Director Lara Caimi sold 9,375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $187,593.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,271.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Confluent news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total value of $4,912,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at $9,561,071.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lara Caimi sold 9,375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $187,593.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,271.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 524,453 shares of company stock worth $10,833,388. 13.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Confluent

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CFLT. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Confluent during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Confluent in the 2nd quarter worth $68,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Confluent by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Confluent by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Confluent by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Confluent from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Confluent from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Confluent from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.79.

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.