Etsy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:ETSY)

Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 48,274 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 53% compared to the average daily volume of 31,591 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ETSY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Etsy from $52.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Etsy from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Etsy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Etsy from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete upgraded shares of Etsy from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.80.

Etsy Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of ETSY stock opened at $59.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.06, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.77. Etsy has a 52 week low of $40.05 and a 52 week high of $70.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.46.

Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $672.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.16 million. Etsy had a negative return on equity of 31.10% and a net margin of 5.78%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Etsy will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Etsy

In related news, Director M Michele Burns sold 14,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.82, for a total transaction of $908,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,254,138.48. This trade represents a 42.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Marla J. Blow sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.46, for a total transaction of $30,357.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,262.86. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 316,482 shares of company stock valued at $19,130,691 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Etsy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ETSY. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Etsy by 697.4% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,343,797 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $268,045,000 after purchasing an additional 4,673,615 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Etsy by 423.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,658,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $218,890,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768,787 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Etsy by 112.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,803,956 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $132,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486,142 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Etsy by 62.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,692,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $185,197,000 after buying an additional 1,416,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Etsy in the 2nd quarter worth about $65,207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.53% of the company’s stock.

Etsy Company Profile

Etsy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, and France. Its primary marketplace is Etsy.com that connects artisans and entrepreneurs with various consumers. The company also offers Reverb, a musical instrument marketplace; Depop, a fashion resale marketplace; and Elo7, a Brazil-based marketplace for handmade and unique items.