Docusign (NASDAQ:DOCU) Cut to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded DocuSign from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold,” with a consensus price target of $60.27.
• DocuSign reported a quarterly earnings beat, posting $1.09 in EPS versus expectations of $0.99 and revenue of $830.24 million, up 8.7% year over year.
• The stock opened at $54.83, while insiders have sold 76,695 shares worth approximately $3.48 million over the past 90 days; institutional investors own 77.64% of the company.

Docusign (NASDAQ:DOCU - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on DOCU. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Docusign from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Docusign from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Docusign from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on shares of Docusign from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Docusign in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.27.

Docusign Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Docusign stock opened at $54.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.60, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.90. Docusign has a 12 month low of $40.16 and a 12 month high of $86.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.42 and a 200 day moving average of $48.46.

Docusign (NASDAQ:DOCU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.10. Docusign had a net margin of 9.59% and a return on equity of 17.48%. The firm had revenue of $830.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.71 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Docusign's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Docusign will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Allan C. Thygesen sold 26,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,208,025.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 159,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,318,928.76. This represents a 14.17% 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, insider Robert Chatwani sold 15,902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.01, for a total value of $683,945.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 72,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,343.05. This represents a 17.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,695 shares of company stock worth $3,476,002. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Docusign

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DOCU. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Docusign during the 4th quarter worth $186,795,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Docusign by 76.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,285,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,568,000 after buying an additional 2,283,996 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Docusign by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,815,804 shares of the company's stock worth $397,801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,603,900 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Docusign by 452.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,314,632 shares of the company's stock worth $62,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Docusign by 24,412.7% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 958,938 shares of the company's stock worth $69,130,000 after acquiring an additional 955,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.64% of the company's stock.

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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