Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in 8×8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 8×8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 281,757 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,217 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of 8X8 worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of 8X8 in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in 8X8 by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 11,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 3,876 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in 8X8 during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in 8X8 in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 8X8 in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EGHT shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of 8X8 from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 8X8 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 8X8 from $2.60 to $1.90 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on 8X8 from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of 8X8 from $3.50 to $3.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.81.

8X8 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EGHT opened at $1.58 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $208.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.81. 8×8, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.51 and a fifty-two week high of $3.52.

8X8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. 8X8 had a negative net margin of 6.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that 8×8, Inc. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at 8X8

In other 8X8 news, insider Laurence Denny sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total value of $30,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 233,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $701,373. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Sylebra Capital Llc sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total transaction of $107,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,187,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,360,879.78. This represents a 0.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 263,678 shares of company stock worth $590,602. 1.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

8X8 Profile

8×8, Inc engages in the provision of enterprise communication solutions. It offers solutions to the business services, education, financial services, government, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. The company was founded in February 1987 and is headquartered in Campbell, CA.