Baillie Gifford & Co. Buys 518,192 Shares of Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. has significantly increased its stake in Confluent, Inc. by 114.9%, owning 969,306 shares valued at approximately $22.7 million after adding 518,192 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets for Confluent, with recommendations ranging from $24.00 to $30.36, while the company continues to receive a mix of ratings, including one sell and six hold ratings.
• Confluent reported a 24.8% year-over-year revenue increase, with quarterly earnings of $0.08 per share, slightly exceeding consensus estimates, despite a negative return on equity.

Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT - Free Report) by 114.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 969,306 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 518,192 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.29% of Confluent worth $22,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFLT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Confluent in the fourth quarter worth $81,092,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Confluent by 7,342.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,351,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,919 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Confluent in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,658,000. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Confluent by 1,301.3% in the first quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC now owns 1,234,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Confluent in the fourth quarter worth $27,007,000. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Confluent Price Performance

Shares of CFLT stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $27.10. 3,528,434 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,785,302. The company has a current ratio of 4.42, a quick ratio of 4.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Confluent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.79 and a 12-month high of $37.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $24.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.50. The company has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of -27.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.01. Confluent had a negative net margin of 31.42% and a negative return on equity of 29.92%. The business had revenue of $271.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CFLT shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Confluent in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Confluent from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Confluent in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Confluent from $40.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Confluent from $42.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Confluent has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Confluent news, Director Eric Vishria sold 30,953 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $678,799.29. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,169,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,655,380.68. This represents a 2.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rohan Sivaram sold 27,710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.83, for a total transaction of $604,909.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 673,693 shares in the company, valued at $14,706,718.19. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 546,669 shares of company stock worth $12,637,193 over the last quarter. 13.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Confluent Profile

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.