Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Stake in Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,033,351 shares of the company's stock after selling 62,396 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.32% of Confluent worth $28,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Confluent by 354.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Confluent during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Confluent during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $68,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 85.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Confluent by 22,112.5% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 3,538 shares during the period. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CFLT shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Confluent from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Confluent from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Confluent from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Confluent from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Confluent from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Confluent has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.15.

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Confluent Price Performance

CFLT stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,027,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,362,166. Confluent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.79 and a 52-week high of $37.90. The company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.25 and a beta of 0.90. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.28). Confluent had a negative return on equity of 34.70% and a negative net margin of 35.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Confluent news, CFO Rohan Sivaram sold 68,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $2,476,320.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 520,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,849,490.79. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Neha Narkhede sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.68, for a total value of $1,227,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $621,177.96. This trade represents a 66.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,200,746 shares of company stock worth $38,505,150 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company's stock.

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.