Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GETY) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $1.27, but opened at $1.34. Getty Images shares last traded at $1.2850, with a volume of 321,488 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GETY shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Getty Images from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Getty Images in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Getty Images in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Getty Images presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.03.

Getty Images Stock Up 5.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.78. The company has a market cap of $559.33 million, a PE ratio of -6.11 and a beta of 2.06.

Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.01. Getty Images had a negative net margin of 9.60% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $240.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Getty Images Holdings, Inc. will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Craig Warren Peters sold 31,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.27, for a total value of $39,748.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,215,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543,606.26. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Cho Mikael sold 25,555 shares of Getty Images stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.11, for a total transaction of $53,921.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 131,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,144.28. The trade was a 16.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,659,573 shares of company stock worth $8,211,234 in the last ninety days. 11.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Getty Images

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Getty Images during the 1st quarter valued at $4,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Getty Images by 43.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,434,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after buying an additional 742,008 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Getty Images by 1,202.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 587,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 542,181 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Getty Images in the second quarter worth about $534,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Getty Images by 1,201.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 275,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 254,146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.75% of the company’s stock.

About Getty Images

Getty Images (NYSE: GETY) is a leading global provider of digital visual content, offering an extensive library of stock photography, editorial imagery, video footage and music. The company supplies creative and rights-managed assets to a broad range of industries, including advertising, media, corporate communications and publishing. Through its online platform and licensing services, Getty Images enables customers to search, license and download multimedia content for commercial and editorial use.

Founded in 1995 by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein, Getty Images pioneered the aggregation of photographic archives into a centralized, digital marketplace.