Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Bought by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 912.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,097 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,014 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.38% of Sezzle worth $5,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Sezzle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 2,556 shares of the company's stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Sezzle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sezzle in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Sezzle by 3,575.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 147 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Sezzle by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 2.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sezzle Trading Up 3.4%

Sezzle stock traded up $3.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $102.51. 278,872 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 780,871. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 8.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.91. Sezzle Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.76 and a 12-month high of $104.10.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.22. Sezzle had a net margin of 25.29% and a return on equity of 101.18%. The firm had revenue of $271.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.90 million. Research analysts expect that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sezzle announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sezzle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $62.83 price target (up from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Transactions at Sezzle

In other Sezzle news, Director Paul Paradis sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.53, for a total value of $4,526,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 528,382 shares in the company, valued at $47,834,422.46. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 311,196 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.83, for a total value of $22,353,208.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 154,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,080,926.78. The trade was a 66.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 426,396 shares of company stock valued at $32,422,491. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sezzle Company Profile

Sezzle Inc operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks.