MetLife Investment Management LLC Buys 7,020 Shares of 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 raised its position in shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 485.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure 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 period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Sezzle were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SEZL. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 49,400.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 990 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 465.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,578 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 1,852.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,382 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 2,260 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 500.0% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sezzle in the first quarter worth about $131,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ:SEZL traded down $3.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $89.10. 1,007,407 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 882,599. Sezzle Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.58 and a 12-month high of $186.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $121.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.81.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $60.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.33 million. Sezzle had a return on equity of 102.90% and a net margin of 28.13%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sezzle

In other Sezzle news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 6,028 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.23, for a total transaction of $989,978.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 243,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,957,651.69. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 5,484 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.02, for a total value of $921,421.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,312,664.92. The trade was a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,012 shares of company stock valued at $10,266,978. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sezzle 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.