Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $40.00. The stock had previously closed at $27.83, but opened at $30.29. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Confluent shares last traded at $30.00, with a volume of 4,158,559 shares trading hands.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Confluent from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Loop Capital began coverage on Confluent in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a "hold" rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Confluent from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Confluent in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Confluent from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Confluent has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Confluent

In other Confluent news, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total value of $2,023,395.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 479,537 shares in the company, valued at $15,225,299.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 4,109 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.15, for a total transaction of $132,104.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 123,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,970,428.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Erica Schultz sold 63,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total transaction of $2,023,395.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 479,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,225,299.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,433,170 shares of company stock worth $46,438,029. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Confluent

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Confluent during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Confluent in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Confluent during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Confluent in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Confluent during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.09% of the company's stock.

Confluent Trading Up 12.8 %

The company's 50 day moving average price is $30.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 4.62 and a quick ratio of 4.62. The firm has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of -20.60 and a beta of 0.93.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.01). Confluent had a negative net margin of 56.99% and a negative return on equity of 44.16%. The company had revenue of $213.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $204.62 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Confluent

Confluent, Inc operates a data streaming platform in the United States and internationally. The company provides platforms that allow customers to connect their applications, systems, and data layers, such as Confluent Cloud, a managed cloud-native software-as-a-service; and Confluent Platform, an enterprise-grade self-managed software.