Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 10,245 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 447% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,872 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Edward M. Mcdonnell sold 29,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.38, for a total transaction of $932,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 409,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,854,189.40. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 42,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.47, for a total value of $1,363,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,143,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,120,320.93. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 203,568 shares of company stock worth $6,096,461. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Braze

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Braze by 32.5% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Braze during the third quarter worth about $210,000. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Braze in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $671,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Braze during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Braze by 13.3% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 391,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,488,000 after buying an additional 46,049 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

Braze Trading Up 50.7%

Braze stock traded up $15.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.28. 42,759,517 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,031,543. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of -43.97 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.93. Braze has a 12-month low of $15.26 and a 12-month high of $45.58.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.03. Braze had a negative return on equity of 16.11% and a negative net margin of 13.55%. The firm had revenue of $227.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Braze’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Braze has set its FY 2027 guidance at 0.640-0.650 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.130-0.140 EPS. Research analysts expect that Braze will post -0.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRZE has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Braze from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Braze presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.21.

About Braze

Braze, Inc is a customer engagement software company that provides a platform for businesses to build, manage and measure personalized interactions with consumers. Its technology is designed to help brands communicate with customers across digital channels, including mobile applications, websites, email, SMS and messaging services.

The Braze platform supports customer data collection and segmentation, campaign creation, journey orchestration, experimentation and engagement analytics. Its capabilities include in-app and web messaging, push notifications, email marketing, content personalization and automated lifecycle campaigns.