Essex Financial Services Inc. Buys Shares of 3,815 Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)

Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP - Free Report) TSE: SHOP during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,815 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Shopify in the first quarter valued at $382,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 3.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,059,585 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $101,163,000 after buying an additional 38,616 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 1.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 38,732 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,694,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 2.9% in the first quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,541 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 467,025 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $49,659,000 after buying an additional 9,819 shares in the last quarter. 69.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SHOP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Shopify from $124.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Shopify from $125.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Shopify from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. National Bankshares lowered their target price on shares of Shopify from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Shopify in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.66.

Shopify Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of SHOP stock traded up $2.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $117.50. The stock had a trading volume of 3,773,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,323,025. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $106.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.73. Shopify Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.56 and a 12 month high of $129.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.44 billion, a PE ratio of 75.81, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 2.63.

About Shopify

Shopify Inc, a commerce company, provides a commerce platform and services in Canada, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, China, and Latin America. The company's platform enables merchants to displays, manages, markets, and sells its products through various sales channels, including web and mobile storefronts, physical retail locations, pop-up shops, social media storefronts, native mobile apps, buy buttons, and marketplaces; and enables to manage products and inventory, process orders and payments, fulfill and ship orders, new buyers and build customer relationships, source products, leverage analytics and reporting, manage cash, payments and transactions, and access financing.