Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) Stake Lessened by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT - Free Report) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,219 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,767 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Confluent were worth $2,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Confluent by 112.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 41,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 21,864 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Confluent by 11,796.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,253 shares of the company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 12,150 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Confluent by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 3,298 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Confluent by 521.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 50,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 42,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Confluent during the third quarter worth about $7,646,000. 78.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Confluent Price Performance

Shares of CFLT stock traded up $1.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.26. 4,981,207 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,509,330. Confluent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.79 and a twelve month high of $37.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 3.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $25.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.34. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.54 and a beta of 1.03.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research analysts expect that Confluent, Inc. will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CFLT. Raymond James began coverage on Confluent in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Confluent from $35.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Confluent from $37.00 to $29.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Confluent from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Confluent in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Confluent news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total transaction of $6,826,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,285,047.68. The trade was a 33.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kong Phan sold 3,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.86, for a total transaction of $85,280.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 246,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,621,419.76. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,200,746 shares of company stock worth $38,505,150 in the last ninety days. 13.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.