MetLife Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Sezzle Inc. $SEZL

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Sezzle Inc. by 485.5%, acquiring additional shares that brought its total holdings to 8,466 shares worth approximately $295,000.
• Sezzle reported a quarterly EPS of $0.69, exceeding analysts' expectations, although its revenue of $60.31 million fell short of the consensus estimate.
• According to analyst reports, Sezzle received a boost in price target from B. Riley and Oppenheimer, indicating positive sentiment, while another analyst downgraded the stock to a 'hold' rating.

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 485.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,466 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,020 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Sezzle were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 49,400.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 990 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 465.6% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 1,852.5% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 500.0% during the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sezzle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $131,000. 2.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 6,028 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.23, for a total value of $989,978.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 243,303 shares in the company, valued at $39,957,651.69. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 5,484 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.02, for a total transaction of $921,421.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,312,664.92. This trade represents a 4.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,484 shares of company stock worth $10,050,690 over the last quarter. Insiders own 49.49% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of SEZL stock traded up $1.59 on Friday, hitting $89.27. The stock had a trading volume of 854,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,706. The business has a 50 day moving average of $117.54 and a 200 day moving average of $92.66. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59 and a beta of 9.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 3.51 and a quick ratio of 3.51. Sezzle Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.41 and a 12-month high of $186.74.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SEZL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Sezzle from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sezzle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Sezzle from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.75.

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.