Needham & Company LLC Cuts Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Price Target to $24.00

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has lowered its price target for Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) from $26.00 to $24.00, indicating a potential downside of 9.09% from the stock's previous close.
• Several analysts have adjusted their ratings on Confluent, with DA Davidson, Morgan Stanley, and Stifel Nicolaus all reducing their price targets significantly, reflecting cautious market sentiment.
• Despite the target reductions, the overall average rating for Confluent remains a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $29.50.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Free Report) had its price objective cut by Needham & Company LLC from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

CFLT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Confluent in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Confluent from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Confluent from $42.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Confluent from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Confluent in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.36.

Confluent Price Performance

CFLT traded down $0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $17.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,673,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,313,038. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $24.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.35. The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Confluent has a 12 month low of $16.56 and a 12 month high of $37.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.21 and a beta of 0.96.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $282.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.32 million. Confluent had a negative return on equity of 27.34% and a negative net margin of 29.27%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Confluent will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Confluent

In related news, Director Eric Vishria sold 15,476 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $386,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,154,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,860,000. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Ban Ryan Norris Mac sold 1,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.49, for a total value of $28,775.25. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 411,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,673,886.70. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 486,669 shares of company stock worth $11,439,593 over the last 90 days. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Confluent by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 19,913 shares of the company's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 2,918 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in Confluent by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 27,134 shares of the company's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Confluent by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 414,272 shares of the company's stock worth $10,328,000 after acquiring an additional 93,235 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Confluent by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 86,022 shares of the company's stock worth $2,145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Confluent by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 70,650 shares of the company's stock worth $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 7,820 shares in the last quarter. 78.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Confluent

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.