William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New $193.40 Million Investment in Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,549,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $193,403,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Confluent during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the second quarter valued at about $68,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings 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 valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Confluent

In related news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total transaction of $4,647,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at $9,045,235.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CTO Chad Verbowski sold 13,540 shares of the 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 sale, the chief technology officer now owns 496,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,770,775.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total value of $4,647,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,045,235.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 533,433 shares of company stock valued at $11,074,955 over the last quarter. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Confluent from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Confluent from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Confluent from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $36.00) on shares of Confluent in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.69.

Confluent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CFLT opened at $20.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 4.44 and a current ratio of 4.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.33 and a 200 day moving average of $27.07. The firm has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of -16.10 and a beta of 0.88. Confluent, Inc. has a one year low of $14.69 and a one year high of $35.07.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $234.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, research analysts predict that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.