Needham & Company LLC Begins Coverage on Wealthfront (NASDAQ:WLTH)

Key Points

• Needham initiated coverage of Wealthfront with a “buy” rating and a $13 price target, implying 27.58% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Wealthfront has a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $12.14 from 10 analysts.
• Shares opened at $10.19 after rising 3.6%; the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, though it continues to report negative net margins and return on equity.

Equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Wealthfront (NASDAQ:WLTH - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price suggests a potential upside of 27.58% from the stock's previous close.

WLTH has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Wealthfront from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Wealthfront in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Wealthfront from $12.00 to $11.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Wealthfront from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wealthfront from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.14.

Wealthfront Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of Wealthfront stock opened at $10.19 on Friday. Wealthfront has a 52-week low of $7.20 and a 52-week high of $14.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion and a P/E ratio of -10.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.55 and a 200 day moving average of $9.75.

Wealthfront (NASDAQ:WLTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 9th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $91.87 million for the quarter. Wealthfront had a negative net margin of 19.42% and a negative return on equity of 14.62%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wealthfront will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth A. Goldman sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 49,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,550. This trade represents a 16.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Julien Wetterwald sold 26,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.73, for a total transaction of $281,458.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 730,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,841,408.89. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 287,695 shares of company stock worth $2,957,447 over the last ninety days. 27.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wealthfront

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLTH. Index Venture Associates VI Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Wealthfront during the fourth quarter worth approximately $128,567,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wealthfront in the 2nd quarter worth $74,766,000. North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Wealthfront by 135.2% in the first quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,885,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658,624 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wealthfront in the second quarter valued at about $24,706,000. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Wealthfront during the first quarter worth about $12,950,000.

About Wealthfront

Wealthfront, Inc is a U.S.-based digital wealth management company that provides automated investing, financial planning and cash management services through an online platform and mobile applications. The company is designed to help individuals manage their finances with technology-driven tools and diversified investment portfolios.

Its offerings have included automated investment accounts, tax-efficient portfolio management, financial planning tools, high-yield cash management products and lending services.

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