Insider Selling: Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY) Director Sells 450 Shares of Stock

Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY) Director Marla J. Blow sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.64, for a total transaction of $23,238.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,773 shares in the company, valued at $298,117.72. The trade was a 7.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Etsy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ ETSY opened at $52.30 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.60. Etsy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.10 and a 12-month high of $89.58. The firm has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.99.

Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.09). Etsy had a net margin of 9.17% and a negative return on equity of 46.79%. The business had revenue of $662.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $652.47 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Etsy, Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Etsy declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 17.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETSY. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Etsy by 183.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,961,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $331,067,000 after buying an additional 3,861,668 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Etsy by 304.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,402,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $82,703,000 after buying an additional 1,055,296 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Etsy in the third quarter valued at $55,530,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Etsy in the third quarter valued at $49,061,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Etsy by 21.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,215,370 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $248,623,000 after purchasing an additional 734,200 shares in the last quarter. 99.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ETSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Etsy from $64.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Etsy from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Etsy from $65.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Etsy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Etsy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.87.

About Etsy

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.