Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 4,994 Shares of Sezzle Inc. $SEZL

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers has significantly increased its ownership in Sezzle Inc. by 316.9%, now holding 6,570 shares valued at $229,000.
• Sezzle reported an EPS of $0.69 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, but its revenue was below consensus estimates at $60.31 million.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for Sezzle, with B. Riley raising theirs from $101 to $111 and Oppenheimer increasing theirs from $168 to $202.

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 316.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,570 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,994 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Sezzle were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in Sezzle by 275.9% during the 4th quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC now owns 102,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,141,000 after acquiring an additional 75,007 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 4,731.8% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 39,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 38,375 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sezzle during the first quarter valued at about $1,319,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Sezzle by 518.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,960 shares of the company's stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 32,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sezzle during the first quarter worth about $1,016,000. Institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Sezzle from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sezzle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on Sezzle from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $124.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 6,028 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.23, for a total value of $989,978.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 243,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,957,651.69. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Paradis sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.62, for a total transaction of $274,860.00. Following the sale, the director owned 242,000 shares in the company, valued at $22,172,040. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 81,550 shares of company stock valued at $11,863,154. 49.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sezzle Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SEZL traded up $7.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $95.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,255,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,334,208. Sezzle Inc. has a one year low of $19.89 and a one year high of $186.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $138.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.78 and a beta of 9.09.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.11. Sezzle had a return on equity of 102.90% and a net margin of 28.13%.The business had revenue of $60.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.33 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.