Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) Short Interest Up 6.5% in May

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,140,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the May 15th total of 17,980,000 shares. Approximately 8.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Insider Transactions at Confluent

In other news, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction of $2,112,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 168,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,228,578.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Edward Jay Kreps sold 232,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.17, for a total transaction of $6,084,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 452,488 shares in the company, valued at $11,841,610.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ying Christina Liu sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction of $2,112,080.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 168,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,228,578.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 632,636 shares of company stock valued at $18,176,366 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Confluent

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its position in Confluent by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 19,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Confluent by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 243,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,220,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 11,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Confluent by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 82,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.09% of the company’s stock.

Confluent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CFLT traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.85. 3,520,006 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,504,933. Confluent has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 5.07 and a quick ratio of 5.07. The firm has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of -22.28 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.82.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.04). Confluent had a negative return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 46.73%. The firm had revenue of $217.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.57 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Confluent will post -0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFLT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Confluent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Confluent from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Confluent in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Confluent in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.93.

Confluent Company Profile

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.