Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE - Free Report) by 2,153.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 819,045 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 782,701 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.79% of Braze worth $34,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRZE. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Braze in the fourth quarter valued at $498,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Braze by 146.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,808,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,489,000 after buying an additional 1,075,998 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in shares of Braze during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Braze by 148.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,358 shares of the company's stock worth $3,472,000 after acquiring an additional 64,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Braze by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,935 shares of the company's stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Myles Kleeger sold 7,149 shares of Braze stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.82, for a total transaction of $291,822.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 177,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,235,222.54. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Magnuson sold 18,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.82, for a total transaction of $736,801.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 564,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,053,748.12. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,937 shares of company stock valued at $2,235,381 over the last three months. 24.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Braze Price Performance

Braze stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 234,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,632. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.65. Braze, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.45 and a 12 month high of $48.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.35 and a beta of 1.15.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.07. Braze had a negative return on equity of 24.88% and a negative net margin of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $160.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BRZE. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Braze from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Braze from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens began coverage on shares of Braze in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Braze and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $51.25.

About Braze

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.