Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $250.47, but opened at $350.00. Sezzle shares last traded at $375.00, with a volume of 45,688 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley upped their price target on Sezzle from $132.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Northland Securities upped their price target on Sezzle from $185.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday.

Sezzle Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.55 and a beta of 8.49.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $1.33. The company had revenue of $55.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.35 million. Sezzle had a return on equity of 84.38% and a net margin of 21.77%. On average, analysts expect that Sezzle Inc. will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Sezzle news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.57, for a total transaction of $308,355.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 46,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,633,010.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Sezzle news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.57, for a total transaction of $308,355.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 46,860 shares in the company, valued at $9,633,010.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul Martin Purcell sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.05, for a total value of $100,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 261,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,999,511.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,989 shares of company stock valued at $22,207,483 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 57.65% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in Sezzle during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sezzle during the third quarter valued at about $548,000. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sezzle during the third quarter valued at about $354,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Sezzle during the third quarter valued at about $383,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Sezzle during the third quarter valued at about $165,000. 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.