Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 82,307 Shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Braze, Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter, owning approximately $28.98 million in stock as of the latest filing.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 90.47% of Braze's stock, indicating significant reliance on institutional investment.
• Barclays and DA Davidson have lowered their price targets for Braze shares, with the current consensus target price set at $45.50 among analysts.

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE - Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 803,307 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,307 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.77% of Braze worth $28,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Braze by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,464,161 shares of the company's stock worth $354,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476,423 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Braze by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,693,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,798,000 after acquiring an additional 63,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Braze by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,309,244 shares of the company's stock worth $96,711,000 after buying an additional 500,667 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Braze by 121.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,197,407 shares of the company's stock worth $92,028,000 after buying an additional 1,203,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Braze by 107.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,963,841 shares of the company's stock worth $82,246,000 after buying an additional 1,015,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BRZE shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research note on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Braze from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Stephens set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Braze and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Braze from $75.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Braze from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Braze

In other news, CEO William Magnuson sold 25,089 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.88, for a total value of $900,193.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 745,769 shares in the company, valued at $26,758,191.72. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 4,786 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total transaction of $129,604.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 239,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,489,857.40. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,270 shares of company stock valued at $2,749,255 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 18.20% of the company's stock.

Braze Trading Down 6.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BRZE traded down $1.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,258,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,589. Braze, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.22 and a 52 week high of $48.33. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.09.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $162.06 million during 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 company's revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.05) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.