Etsy (NYSE:ETSY) Raised to Strong-Buy at Arete Research

Etsy (NYSE:ETSY) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Arete Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ETSY. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Etsy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Etsy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Etsy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Etsy from $77.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Etsy from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.91.

Etsy Trading Up 5.6%

Shares of Etsy stock opened at $60.82 on Wednesday. Etsy has a 12-month low of $44.00 and a 12-month high of $76.51. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $56.86.

Etsy (NYSE:ETSY) last issued its 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 28.60% and a net margin of 9.94%.The company had revenue of $881.64 million during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Etsy will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Etsy

In related news, CAO Merilee Buckley sold 1,993 shares of Etsy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.92, for a total transaction of $105,469.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,812.28. This trade represents a 71.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Josh Silverman sold 88,350 shares of Etsy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $5,670,303.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 130,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,940.92. The trade was a 40.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 278,569 shares of company stock valued at $17,728,487. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Etsy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Etsy by 627.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 279,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,962,000 after buying an additional 240,986 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Etsy in the first quarter valued at approximately $532,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Etsy by 16.4% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 103,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after buying an additional 14,567 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Etsy in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,169,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Etsy by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 533,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,664,000 after acquiring an additional 25,026 shares in the last quarter. 99.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Etsy

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.