Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Sezzle Inc. $SEZL

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System initiated a new position in Sezzle, buying 7,600 shares valued at about $481,000 in the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also increased or started stakes in SEZL, while only 2.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutions overall.
• Analysts remain cautiously bullish: Sezzle has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a target price of $138.83, even as the stock traded near $167.32 and insiders continued to sell shares.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEZL. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sezzle by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 905 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sezzle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $918,000. XML Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sezzle during the first quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Sezzle by 818.1% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sezzle in the fourth quarter valued at $696,000. 2.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SEZL has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Sezzle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Sezzle from $108.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Northland Securities set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 price objective (up from $117.00) on shares of Sezzle in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Sezzle from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Lee Dickson Brading sold 10,000 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.23, for a total transaction of $1,782,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 296,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,922,012.13. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Justin Krause sold 3,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.72, for a total transaction of $374,114.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 72,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,638.04. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,382 shares of company stock worth $17,416,662. Company insiders own 49.49% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SEZL opened at $167.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 3.65 and a quick ratio of 3.65. The business's fifty day moving average price is $127.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.76. Sezzle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.50 and a fifty-two week high of $185.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.74 and a beta of 6.70.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.19. Sezzle had a return on equity of 87.46% and a net margin of 30.83%.The company had revenue of $135.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.74 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sezzle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.100 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Sezzle Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc is a financial technology company specializing in buy now, pay later (BNPL) services that enable consumers to split purchases into interest-free installment payments. By integrating its platform with e-commerce merchants, Sezzle provides shoppers with flexible payment options at checkout while merchants benefit from increased conversion rates and average order values. The company's technology is designed to offer a seamless user experience, with instant approval decisions and no hidden fees, positions it as a consumer-friendly alternative to traditional credit products.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sezzle completed its initial public offering on the Nasdaq under the ticker SEZL.

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