Short Interest in GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) Declines By 26.9%

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,260,000 shares, a decrease of 26.9% from the January 15th total of 3,090,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GDDY shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $240.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $227.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GoDaddy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.20.

GoDaddy Stock Down 14.1 %

Shares of GDDY traded down $29.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $182.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,395,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,094,305. The company has a 50 day moving average of $204.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.30. GoDaddy has a 1-year low of $108.02 and a 1-year high of $216.00. The firm has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.61.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.01). GoDaddy had a return on equity of 267.29% and a net margin of 41.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that GoDaddy will post 4.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at GoDaddy

In related news, Director Brian Sharples sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.70, for a total value of $103,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,621 shares in the company, valued at $4,698,381.70. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Phontip Palitwanon sold 770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.64, for a total transaction of $151,412.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,321.76. This represents a 3.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,482 shares of company stock worth $4,709,650. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GoDaddy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of GoDaddy in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of GoDaddy in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of GoDaddy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of GoDaddy by 311.3% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of GoDaddy by 298.7% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring 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.