Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Braze, Inc. $BRZE

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) by 412.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,761 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,285 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Braze were worth $2,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BRZE. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Braze by 173.3% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Braze by 821.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Braze by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Braze by 35.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Braze in the third quarter worth $119,000. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Braze Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRZE opened at $18.69 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of -16.99 and a beta of 1.08. Braze, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.26 and a 12 month high of $43.89.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Braze had a negative return on equity of 17.87% and a negative net margin of 16.85%.The business had revenue of $190.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BRZE shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Braze from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Braze from $50.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Braze from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Braze in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Braze has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.30.

Insider Activity

In other Braze news, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 2,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $48,978.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,679 shares in the company, valued at $857,995.47. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 7,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $125,129.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,692,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,661,355.69. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,216 shares of company stock worth $1,225,772. Insiders own 18.20% of the company’s stock.

Braze Profile

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company (NASDAQ: BRZE) that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze’s platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.