Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,810,000 shares, a growth of 11.9% from the December 15th total of 4,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 6.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Braze Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRZE traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.11. 1,458,037 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,840. Braze has a one year low of $29.18 and a one year high of $61.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 3,432 shares of Braze stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $118,232.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 67,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,311,422.75. The trade was a 4.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 6,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $238,738.50. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 163,020 shares in the company, valued at $5,616,039. The trade was a 4.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 174,583 shares of company stock worth $7,325,468. Insiders own 24.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Braze

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Braze during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Braze by 41.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Braze by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Braze in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Braze in the 4th quarter worth approximately $233,000. Institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRZE has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Braze from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Braze from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Braze from $37.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Braze from $65.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their price objective on Braze from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.74.

About Braze

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.