Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,630,000 shares, a decline of 13.5% from the August 31st total of 21,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 7.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Confluent

In other news, insider Erica Schultz sold 9,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total value of $207,174.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 687,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,904,631.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Confluent news, Director Lara Caimi sold 9,375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $187,593.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,160 shares in the company, valued at $143,271.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Erica Schultz sold 9,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total transaction of $207,174.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 687,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,904,631.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 524,453 shares of company stock worth $10,833,388 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Confluent during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Confluent in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Confluent by 125.0% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 during the period. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Confluent Stock Performance

Shares of Confluent stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, reaching $19.70. 5,792,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,435,024. Confluent has a twelve month low of $14.69 and a twelve month high of $35.07. The company has a quick ratio of 4.44, a current ratio of 4.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.76 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.08.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $229.49 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 37.78% and a negative net margin of 42.70%. Analysts anticipate that Confluent will post -0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CFLT shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Confluent in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Confluent to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Confluent in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Confluent in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Confluent from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.97.

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.