Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $28.53, but opened at $27.47. Confluent shares last traded at $27.42, with a volume of 517,800 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Confluent from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Confluent from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Confluent from $38.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Confluent in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.88.

Confluent Trading Down 5.1 %

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.39 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.03. Confluent had a negative net margin of 38.35% and a negative return on equity of 34.05%. The company had revenue of $250.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.98 million. Analysts anticipate that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.9 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Confluent news, CFO Rohan Sivaram sold 22,926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total transaction of $497,035.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 555,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,039,706.16. The trade was a 3.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total transaction of $6,809,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,253,373.52. This represents a 33.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,358,654 shares of company stock worth $91,463,207. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Confluent

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFLT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Confluent by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,741,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $602,505,000 after buying an additional 669,675 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Confluent by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,581,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $536,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,587,169 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Confluent by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,700,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,083,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,841 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Confluent by 28.4% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,617,100 shares of the company's stock worth $224,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684,100 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Confluent in the second quarter valued at $193,403,000. 78.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.