Deutsche Bank AG Raises Stock Position in Sezzle Inc. $SEZL

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG significantly increased its stake in Sezzle Inc. by 469% during the first quarter, holding 11,886 shares valued at $415,000 by the end of the reporting period.
• Several hedge funds, including CWM LLC and US Bancorp DE, also made substantial increases in their positions in Sezzle, reflecting a growing institutional interest in the company.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Sezzle's stock, with B. Riley raising its price target to $111.00, while others like Oppenheimer upgraded their price objective to $202.00, leading to a consensus "Buy" rating.

Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 469.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,886 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,797 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG's holdings in Sezzle were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sezzle by 483.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 120,661 shares of the company's stock worth $4,210,000 after acquiring an additional 99,964 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Sezzle by 497.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,013,698 shares of the company's stock worth $35,368,000 after acquiring an additional 844,084 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its position in Sezzle by 381.4% in the first quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 41,725 shares of the company's stock worth $1,456,000 after acquiring an additional 33,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sezzle

In other news, Director Paul Paradis sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.62, for a total value of $274,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 242,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,172,040. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 5,484 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 $21,312,664.92. This represents a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,696 shares of company stock worth $10,476,922. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sezzle Price Performance

Sezzle stock traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.60. 1,182,509 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,342,059. Sezzle Inc. has a one year low of $20.74 and a one year high of $186.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42 and a beta of 9.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $133.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.14.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Sezzle from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sezzle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley boosted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $124.33.

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.