Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 27,537 Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) by 56.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,618 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,537 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Honest were worth $102,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HNST. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Honest during the fourth quarter worth about $336,000. Mariner LLC bought a new position in Honest during the fourth quarter worth about $175,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Honest by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,396,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,678,000 after acquiring an additional 299,186 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Honest by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 51,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 13,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Honest by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 7,821 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Honest Trading Up 3.1%

HNST opened at $3.96 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.42 and its 200-day moving average is $4.75. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.32 and a 1-year high of $8.97. The company has a market cap of $440.63 million, a P/E ratio of 79.22 and a beta of 2.32.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). Honest had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.84%. The company had revenue of $93.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.18 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,841 shares of Honest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total transaction of $39,569.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 410,257 shares in the company, valued at $1,497,438.05. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 99,328 shares of Honest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total transaction of $362,547.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,998,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,946,324.45. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 131,890 shares of company stock worth $481,399. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Honest from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Honest from $5.50 to $4.25 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.96.

Honest Profile

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.