Short Interest in Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) Expands By 7.3%

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,010,000 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the September 15th total of 4,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 7.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Braze Stock Performance

Shares of BRZE traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $29.80. 133,545 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,026,277. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.97. Braze has a 1 year low of $29.18 and a 1 year high of $61.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.98 and a beta of 1.03.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.12. Braze had a negative net margin of 22.01% and a negative return on equity of 25.89%. The firm had revenue of $145.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Braze will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRZE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Braze from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Braze from $51.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Braze from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Braze news, major shareholder Roger H. Lee sold 56,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.27, for a total value of $1,720,244.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 56,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,244.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Braze news, major shareholder Roger H. Lee sold 56,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.27, for a total value of $1,720,244.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 56,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,244.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.37, for a total value of $101,480.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 70,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,917,701.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 232,737 shares of company stock worth $9,301,358. 24.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Braze by 401.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 922 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Braze by 29.4% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Braze in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Braze by 360.9% in the first quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Braze by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. 90.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Braze Company Profile

Braze, Inc operates a customer engagement platform that provides interactions between consumers and brands worldwide. The company offers Braze software development kits that automatically manage data ingestion and deliver mobile and web notifications, in-application/in-browser interstitial messages, and content cards; REST API that can be used to import or export data or to trigger workflows between Braze and brands' existing technology stacks; Partner Data Integrations, which allow brands to sync user cohorts from partners; Data Transformation, in which brands can programmatically sync and transform user data; and Braze Cloud Data Ingestion that enables brands to harness their customer data.