Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Stock Price Down 9% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Sezzle's shares fell 9% on Wednesday, resulting in a trading price decline from a previous close of $151.94 to $138.30, with trading volume decreasing by 74% from average levels.
• Despite the drop, Wall Street analysts continue to forecast growth, with Oppenheimer raising their target price to $202 and maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• Recent insider trading activity indicates significant sales by key executives, including COO Amin Sabzivand and CFO Karen Hartje, who sold shares worth nearly $2 million combined.

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) shares were down 9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $139.06 and last traded at $138.30. Approximately 262,994 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,002,189 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sezzle Stock Down 34.3%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.36 and a beta of 9.09.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $60.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.33 million. Sezzle had a return on equity of 113.81% and a net margin of 28.13%. On average, research analysts forecast that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sezzle

In other Sezzle news, Director Paul Paradis sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.19, for a total transaction of $441,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 251,000 shares in the company, valued at $36,944,690. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 6,028 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was 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 owned 243,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,957,651.69. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 165,896 shares of company stock valued at $19,535,377. Company insiders own 49.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SEZL. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Sezzle by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,621 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Sezzle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,048,000. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sezzle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $825,000. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sezzle by 68.0% in the 2nd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 19,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,515,000 after acquiring an additional 7,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in Sezzle by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 3,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

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.