Howard Capital Management Inc. Takes $217,000 Position in GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY)

Howard Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,098 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GDDY. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of GoDaddy by 7,083.4% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,404,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $678,941,000 after purchasing an additional 3,356,678 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in GoDaddy in the 4th quarter valued at about $111,923,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in GoDaddy by 3,227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 361,710 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,709,000 after acquiring an additional 350,839 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in GoDaddy by 3,836.1% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 358,465 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $70,750,000 after acquiring an additional 349,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in GoDaddy by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,660,283 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $260,299,000 after acquiring an additional 274,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of GoDaddy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Amanpal Singh Bhutani sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.77, for a total value of $593,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,826,408.12. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Roger Chen sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.28, for a total transaction of $194,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 182,632 shares in the company, valued at $35,481,744.96. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,482 shares of company stock valued at $4,903,930. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

GoDaddy Price Performance

GDDY opened at $176.49 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.46, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.72. GoDaddy Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.38 and a 1 year high of $216.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36 and a beta of 1.15.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.01). GoDaddy had a return on equity of 176.06% and a net margin of 20.49%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that GoDaddy Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

GoDaddy Company Profile

GoDaddy Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Applications and Commerce, and Core Platform. The Applications and Commerce segment provides applications products, including Websites + Marketing, a mobile-optimized online tool that enables customers to build websites and e-commerce enabled online stores; and Managed WordPress, a streamlined and optimized website building that allows customers to easily build and manage a faster WordPress site; Managed WooCommerce Stores to sell anything and anywhere online; and marketing tools and services, such as GoDaddy Studio mobile application, search engine optimization, Meta and Google My Business, and email and social media marketing designed to help businesses acquire and engage customers and create content.