Reddit (NYSE:RDDT) Now Covered by BNP Paribas Exane

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage of Reddit with a “neutral” rating and a $180 price target, implying 17.78% upside from the prior close.
• Reddit’s analyst consensus remains more positive, with a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $219.77. The company recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.25 EPS and $804.91 million in revenue, up 61% year over year.
• Insiders sold 230,244 shares worth approximately $38.7 million during the last quarter, while institutional investors including Wellington Management and Norges Bank increased or initiated positions.

Equities research analysts at BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Reddit (NYSE:RDDT - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane's price target suggests a potential upside of 17.78% from the stock's previous close.

RDDT has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Reddit in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Reddit in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Reddit in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Reddit in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Reddit in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Reddit has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $219.77.

Reddit Stock Performance

RDDT stock opened at $152.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.02. Reddit has a one year low of $119.27 and a one year high of $282.95.

Reddit (NYSE:RDDT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $804.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $731.00 million. Reddit had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 29.02%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 61.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Reddit will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Reddit news, CEO Steve Huffman sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.16, for a total transaction of $3,206,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 373,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,598,702.24. The trade was a 4.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jennifer L. Wong sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.55, for a total value of $13,391,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,050,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $187,538,028.45. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 230,244 shares of company stock worth $38,747,524 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 28.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Reddit by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,564,535 shares of the company's stock worth $271,572,000 after acquiring an additional 280,030 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Reddit by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 37,000 shares of the company's stock worth $8,505,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Reddit by 326,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 32,650 shares of the company's stock worth $7,505,000 after purchasing an additional 32,640 shares during the period. Moore Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Reddit by 611.4% during the second quarter. Moore Capital Management LP now owns 12,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 10,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Reddit during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $372,047,000.

Reddit Company Profile

Reddit, Inc operates a global online platform where users participate in communities organized around shared interests, topics and discussions. Users can submit posts, links, images and videos, while community members can comment, vote and interact through publicly accessible forums known as subreddits.

The company generates revenue primarily through digital advertising and also offers premium memberships and other paid products. Reddit additionally provides data licensing and developer-related services that support the use of its platform content and technology.

Founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian and Aaron Swartz, Reddit serves users worldwide across a broad range of communities.

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