Etsy (NYSE:ETSY) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Etsy (NYSE:ETSY) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on ETSY. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Etsy from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Etsy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on Etsy from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Etsy from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on Etsy from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.67.

Etsy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETSY opened at $52.77 on Friday. Etsy has a 1-year low of $41.51 and a 1-year high of $76.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.77.

Etsy (NYSE:ETSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. Etsy had a negative return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 5.65%.The business had revenue of $881.64 million for the quarter.

Etsy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 18th that allows the company to repurchase $750.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Etsy

In related news, Director Charles Andrew Ballard sold 1,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $99,774.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,294.44. This trade represents a 30.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Josh Silverman sold 12,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $655,992.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 130,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,476. This represents a 8.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 43,971 shares of company stock valued at $2,326,623 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Etsy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Etsy by 697.4% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,343,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,045,000 after purchasing an additional 4,673,615 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Etsy during the third quarter valued at approximately $257,614,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Etsy by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,111,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,301 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Etsy by 1,648.1% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 706,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,916,000 after purchasing an additional 666,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Etsy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,903,000. 99.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Etsy Company Profile

Etsy, Inc operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, France, and India. 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. In addition, it offers various seller services, including Etsy Payments, a payment processing service; Etsy Ads, an advertising platform; and Shipping Labels, which allows sellers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India to purchase discounted shipping labels.