Morgan Stanley Increases GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) Price Target to $228.00

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $227.00 to $228.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.12% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on GDDY. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on GoDaddy in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $198.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on GoDaddy from $224.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of GoDaddy in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of GoDaddy from $176.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GoDaddy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.67.

GoDaddy Stock Performance

NYSE GDDY opened at $194.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.15. GoDaddy has a fifty-two week low of $108.02 and a fifty-two week high of $216.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.61, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.01). GoDaddy had a net margin of 41.74% and a return on equity of 267.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that GoDaddy will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brian Sharples sold 500 shares of GoDaddy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.70, for a total transaction of $103,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,698,381.70. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Phontip Palitwanon sold 770 shares of GoDaddy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.64, for a total value of $151,412.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,321.76. The trade was a 3.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,482 shares of company stock worth $4,709,650. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GoDaddy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GoDaddy during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in GoDaddy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in GoDaddy in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in GoDaddy by 311.3% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in GoDaddy by 298.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.28% of the company’s stock.

About GoDaddy

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.