Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, an increase of 36.1% from the November 30th total of 3,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 6.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Braze news, CEO William Magnuson sold 17,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $617,791.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 582,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,078,011.20. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 3,432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total transaction of $118,232.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 67,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,311,422.75. This represents a 4.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,090 shares of company stock valued at $7,906,833. Insiders own 24.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Braze

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BRZE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Braze by 146.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,808,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,998 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Braze in the third quarter valued at approximately $20,794,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Braze by 69.5% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,494,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,319,000 after buying an additional 612,400 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Braze during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,925,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Braze by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,575,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,958,000 after acquiring an additional 279,050 shares in the last quarter. 90.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Braze Stock Performance

Shares of BRZE traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.90. The stock had a trading volume of 607,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,092,427. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.75. Braze has a fifty-two week low of $29.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.63 and a beta of 1.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Braze from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Braze from $65.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Braze from $37.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Braze in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Braze in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.74.

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.