Norges Bank Takes $62.64 Million Position in Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,495,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,639,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.45% of Braze as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Braze by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,309,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,711,000 after buying an additional 500,667 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Braze by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,464,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476,423 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Braze during the 4th quarter worth approximately $549,000. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Braze during the 4th quarter valued at $576,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. bought a new position in Braze in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. 90.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Braze Price Performance

Braze stock opened at $32.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.00. Braze, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.18 and a fifty-two week high of $48.33.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.07. Braze had a negative net margin of 20.41% and a negative return on equity of 24.88%. The company had revenue of $160.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BRZE. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Braze in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Braze from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Braze and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Braze currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Braze

In related news, Director Phillip M. Fernandez sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.46, for a total value of $62,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,052.74. The trade was a 8.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.22, for a total value of $472,200.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 189,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,949,134.40. This trade represents a 5.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,970 shares of company stock valued at $3,904,111. Company insiders own 24.03% of the company’s stock.

Braze Profile

Braze, Inc operates a customer engagement platform that provides interactions between consumers and brands worldwide. The company offers Braze software development kits that automatically manage data ingestion and deliver mobile and web notifications, in-application/in-browser interstitial messages, and content cards; REST API that can be used to import or export data or to trigger workflows between Braze and brands' existing technology stacks; Partner Data Integrations, which allow brands to sync user cohorts from partners; Data Transformation, in which brands can programmatically sync and transform user data; and Braze Cloud Data Ingestion that enables brands to harness their customer data.