New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Holdings in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL)

Key Points

• The New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Sezzle Inc. by 500% by acquiring an additional 4,000 shares, bringing its total holdings to 4,800 shares valued at approximately $167,000.
• Several other hedge funds have also significantly increased their positions in Sezzle, highlighting a broader institutional interest in the company.
• CFO Karen Hartje sold 311,196 shares of Sezzle, representing a 66.86% decrease in her position, while a significant number of shares were sold by other insiders as well.

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 500.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,800 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Sezzle were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sezzle during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sezzle by 3,575.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 147 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 407 shares of the company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Sezzle during the 4th quarter valued at about $128,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth $136,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 5,484 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $21,312,664.92. The trade was a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 6,028 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,092 shares of company stock valued at $43,533,756 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 49.49% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SEZL traded up $8.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,000,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 911,583. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.99 and a beta of 9.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62. Sezzle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.67 and a fifty-two week high of $186.74. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $140.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SEZL. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Sezzle from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Sezzle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd.

About Sezzle

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.