Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires Shares of 1,514,513 Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased 1,514,513 shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) during the first quarter, amounting to about $54.6 million, representing approximately 1.45% ownership in the company.
• Braze, Inc. reported earnings per share of $0.07 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.05, with revenues of $162.06 million, up 19.6% year-over-year.
• Consensus among analysts is a "Moderate Buy" rating for Braze, with an average price target of $45.50, despite several analysts recently lowering their price targets.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,514,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,644,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 1.45% of Braze at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRZE. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Braze by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,314 shares of the company's stock worth $769,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Braze by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Braze by 168.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 646 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Braze by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Braze by 236.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 736 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Magnuson sold 25,089 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.88, for a total value of $900,193.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 745,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,758,191.72. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Myles Kleeger sold 9,189 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.88, for a total transaction of $329,701.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 159,693 shares in the company, valued at $5,729,784.84. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,270 shares of company stock valued at $2,749,255 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 18.20% of the company's stock.

Braze Price Performance

BRZE stock traded down $1.10 on Thursday, reaching $26.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,178,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,266. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.93 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.61. Braze, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.22 and a 52 week high of $48.33.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $162.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.60 million. Braze had a negative net margin of 16.76% and a negative return on equity of 18.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.05) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BRZE. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Braze from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on Braze from $70.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Braze from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stephens set a $41.00 target price on shares of Braze and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.50.

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.