Docusign Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 16.8% in April to 15,108,109 shares—about 7.9% of the stock—with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.6.
• The board authorized a $2.0 billion share repurchase (up to ~21% of outstanding shares), and DocuSign beat the quarter with EPS $1.01 versus $0.95 and revenue $836.9M, up 7.8% year-over-year.
• Insiders sold 64,673 shares in the last quarter (≈$3.08M) while analysts have largely trimmed targets; consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $61.40.

Docusign Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 15,108,109 shares, a drop of 16.8% from the March 31st total of 18,154,041 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,148,048 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 7.9% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James P. Shaughnessy sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total value of $561,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 53,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,511,539.73. This trade represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Robert Chatwani sold 16,696 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.10, for a total transaction of $803,077.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 72,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,485,229.80. This trade represents a 18.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,673 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,699. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Docusign

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Docusign by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Docusign by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the company's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Docusign by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the company's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Docusign by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,582 shares of the company's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in shares of Docusign by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the company's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 77.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DOCU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Docusign from $90.00 to $69.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Docusign from $75.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Docusign in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Docusign from $78.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Docusign from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Docusign presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.40.

Docusign Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of DOCU opened at $46.08 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $46.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.83. Docusign has a 12-month low of $40.16 and a 12-month high of $94.67. The firm has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.99.

Docusign (NASDAQ:DOCU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Docusign had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The firm had revenue of $836.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $828.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Docusign's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Docusign will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Docusign declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 17th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 21% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Docusign

DocuSign, Inc NASDAQ: DOCU is a leading provider of electronic signature and digital transaction management solutions. The company's flagship offering, DocuSign eSignature, enables organizations to send, sign and manage legally binding electronic agreements securely in the cloud. Beyond eSignature, DocuSign's Agreement Cloud combines contract lifecycle management, document generation, and workflow automation to streamline agreement processes from initiation through execution and storage.

DocuSign's platform serves a diverse customer base spanning industries such as finance, real estate, healthcare, technology, and government.

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