Amundi Sells 2,662,147 Shares of Coty $COTY

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its stake in Coty by 59.4%, selling 2,662,147 shares, leaving them with approximately 1.8 million shares valued at $9.47 million.
• Coty reported a loss of ($0.05) earnings per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate, despite generating revenues of $1.25 billion.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Sue Nabi and CFO Laurent Mercier buying shares, indicating confidence in the company's future despite recent stock performance concerns.

Amundi cut its stake in Coty (NYSE:COTY - Free Report) by 59.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,816,984 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,662,147 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.21% of Coty worth $9,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Coty during the 1st quarter valued at $572,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in shares of Coty by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 700,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,833,000 after buying an additional 3,456 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coty in the 1st quarter valued at $84,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Coty by 179.5% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,966,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,759,000 after buying an additional 1,263,306 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Coty by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 128,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the period. 42.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Coty

In related news, CEO Sue Nabi purchased 260,000 shares of Coty stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.92 per share, with a total value of $1,019,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 32,127,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at $125,938,961.12. This represents a 0.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kristin Blazewicz purchased 29,400 shares of Coty stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.30 per share, for a total transaction of $126,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 829,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,565,310.60. This represents a 3.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 334,900 shares of company stock worth $1,321,840 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COTY shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on Coty from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Coty from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Coty from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $4.25 target price (down from $6.50) on shares of Coty in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Coty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $6.00 to $4.00 in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.06.

Coty Stock Down 1.1%

COTY traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $4.09. 4,369,828 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,156,009. Coty has a 12 month low of $3.67 and a 12 month high of $9.70. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of -9.28, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock's fifty day moving average is $4.67 and its 200-day moving average is $4.96.

Coty (NYSE:COTY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.06). Coty had a negative net margin of 6.24% and a positive return on equity of 5.18%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Coty will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Coty

Coty Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells beauty products worldwide. It operates through Prestige and Consumer Beauty segments. The company provides fragrance, color cosmetics, and skin and body care products. It offers Prestige segment products primarily through prestige retailers, including perfumeries, department stores, e-retailers, direct-to-consumer websites, and duty-free shops under the Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chloe, Davidoff, Escada, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jil Sander, Joop!, Kylie Jenner, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Orveda, philosophy, SKKN BY KIM, and Tiffany & Co brands.