Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 892,635 Shares of Braze, Inc. $BRZE

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its Braze stake by 10% in Q4, purchasing 892,635 shares to hold 9,851,050 shares (about 8.78%) valued at roughly $337.8 million, amid overall institutional ownership of 90.47%.
• Braze beat revenue estimates with $205.17 million (up 27.9% year-over-year) but missed EPS expectations and remains unprofitable on margins and ROE, while analysts maintain a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $36.90 price target.
• Insiders have been net sellers, offloading 95,676 shares (~$1.74 million) over the last quarter, though company insiders still hold 18.20% of the stock.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,851,050 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 892,635 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.78% of Braze worth $337,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Braze by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,455,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,831,000 after purchasing an additional 139,133 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Braze by 5,412.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 289,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,937,000 after purchasing an additional 284,533 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Braze by 412.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 99,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,837,000 after purchasing an additional 80,285 shares during the period. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Braze by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,780,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,623,000 after purchasing an additional 240,000 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Braze by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,687,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,445,000 after purchasing an additional 261,351 shares during the period. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Braze news, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.29, for a total value of $710,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 209,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,249,212.96. This represents a 14.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 7,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $125,129.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,692,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,661,355.69. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,676 shares of company stock worth $1,737,811. Company insiders own 18.20% of the company's stock.

Braze Stock Performance

Braze stock opened at $22.60 on Friday. Braze, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.26 and a 52 week high of $37.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.52 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.19 and a 200-day moving average of $25.10.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.04). Braze had a negative return on equity of 18.75% and a negative net margin of 17.78%.The business had revenue of $205.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. Braze's quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Braze, Inc. will post -0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BRZE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Braze from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Braze from $42.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Braze from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on Braze from $43.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Braze from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Braze presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.90.

Braze Profile

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company NASDAQ: BRZE that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze's platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.

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