D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Raises Holdings in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 912.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the 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 about 0.38% of Sezzle worth $5,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEZL. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Sezzle by 792.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 79,983 shares of the company's stock worth $20,460,000 after purchasing an additional 71,019 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Sezzle by 816.9% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the company's stock worth $4,018,000 after purchasing an additional 13,994 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth about $3,368,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Sezzle by 1,733.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 12,447 shares of the company's stock worth $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,768 shares during the period. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Sezzle by 220.5% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 17,000 shares of the company's stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 11,696 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:SEZL traded up $0.38 on Tuesday, reaching $99.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 641,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 776,948. Sezzle Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.76 and a 12-month high of $101.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 8.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.22.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $271.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.90 million. Sezzle had a net margin of 25.29% and a return on equity of 101.18%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sezzle announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Sezzle

In related news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.86, for a total transaction of $736,740.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 277,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,681,277.64. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 311,196 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.83, for a total transaction of $22,353,208.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 154,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 426,396 shares of company stock worth $32,422,491. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $62.83 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

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.