Swiss National Bank Boosts Stock Position in Sezzle Inc. $SEZL

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Sezzle Inc. by 489.1%, holding 32,400 shares valued at approximately $1.13 million after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares.
• Recent insider activity includes Paul Paradis, a director, selling 3,000 shares for about $274,860, while CFO Karen Hartje sold 5,484 shares for approximately $921,421.
• After receiving upgrades from several analysts, Sezzle currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" with a price target of $124.33.

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) by 489.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,400 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.10% of Sezzle worth $1,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 469.0% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,797 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sezzle by 483.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 120,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,210,000 after acquiring an additional 99,964 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sezzle by 497.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,013,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,368,000 after acquiring an additional 844,084 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Sezzle by 465.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sezzle by 1,852.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 2,260 shares during the period. 2.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sezzle news, Director Paul Paradis sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.62, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 6,028 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.23, for a total value of $989,978.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 243,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,957,651.69. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,696 shares of company stock worth $10,476,922. Corporate insiders own 49.49% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Stock Performance

Shares of SEZL stock traded down $1.21 on Friday, hitting $94.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,182,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,342,059. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42 and a beta of 9.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.87. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Sezzle Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.74 and a twelve month high of $186.74.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $60.31 million during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.