Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $27.81, but opened at $27.19. Confluent shares last traded at $26.48, with a volume of 1,302,601 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CFLT shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Confluent from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wolfe Research raised Confluent to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Confluent in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Confluent from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Confluent in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.37.

Confluent Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of -24.19 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 4.24.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.98 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 34.05% and a negative net margin of 38.35%. Equities analysts predict that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Confluent

In other news, CAO Kong Phan sold 3,947 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.74, for a total value of $113,436.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 179,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,171,446.86. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.92, for a total value of $1,296,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 280,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,262,784. The trade was a 15.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,584,712 shares of company stock worth $132,928,936. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFLT. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Confluent by 110.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 60,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 31,729 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Confluent by 308.3% in the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 333,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,176,000 after purchasing an additional 251,507 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Confluent by 1,465.6% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 30,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 28,360 shares during the period. Pathway Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Confluent in the third quarter worth approximately $918,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Confluent by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,284,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,549,000 after acquiring an additional 64,926 shares during the period. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.