Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) Short Interest Up 24.8% in January

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 344,700 shares, an increase of 24.8% from the January 15th total of 276,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 137,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 11.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Sezzle

In related news, Director Paul Paradis sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $1,610,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,538,400. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 3,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.32, for a total value of $1,093,518.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,121 shares in the company, valued at $11,109,474.72. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,884 shares of company stock valued at $3,822,112. Corporate insiders own 57.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sezzle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sezzle during the third quarter worth $38,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sezzle by 3,575.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on SEZL shares. Northland Securities boosted their price target on Sezzle from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $372.00 price target (up previously from $353.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Sezzle Price Performance

Shares of Sezzle stock traded up $5.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $340.16. 187,253 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 114,665. The business has a 50-day moving average of $263.12 and a 200 day moving average of $229.22. Sezzle has a fifty-two week low of $38.22 and a fifty-two week high of $477.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 36.19 and a beta of 9.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks.