MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 5,379 Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,379 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Honest were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Honest by 11,727.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 4,222 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its stake in Honest by 6,101.8% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 6,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 6,712 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Honest during the first quarter worth about $64,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Honest during the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Honest during the first quarter worth about $78,000. 45.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Honest

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

Honest Stock Performance

NASDAQ HNST opened at $3.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.34 and a 200-day moving average of $4.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $438.40 million, a P/E ratio of 78.82 and a beta of 2.32. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.32 and a 52 week high of $8.97.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HNST. Telsey Advisory Group decreased 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 decreased 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. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Honest from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.96.

About Honest

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.