Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 25,683 Shares of GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY)

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in GoDaddy by 1,938.3% in Q1, owning 27,008 shares worth approximately $4.87 million.
• GoDaddy reported a Q1 EPS of $1.27, missing estimates by $0.08, while revenue was stable at $1.19 billion, marking an 8.6% year-over-year increase.
• Institutional investors hold 90.28% of GoDaddy's stock, indicative of strong backing from major financial players.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY - Free Report) by 1,938.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,008 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 25,683 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in GoDaddy were worth $4,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GoDaddy by 123.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 143 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in GoDaddy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in GoDaddy by 591.3% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 159 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in GoDaddy by 307.9% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. raised its holdings in GoDaddy by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 90.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other GoDaddy news, CAO Phontip Palitwanon sold 2,173 shares of GoDaddy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.87, for a total transaction of $386,511.51. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,770,488.26. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Amanpal Singh Bhutani sold 6,932 shares of GoDaddy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.81, for a total value of $1,246,442.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 431,015 shares in the company, valued at $77,500,807.15. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,257 shares of company stock valued at $11,575,910 over the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GDDY shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $228.00 to $206.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $231.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of GoDaddy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of GoDaddy in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.86.

GoDaddy Stock Down 3.2%

NYSE GDDY traded down $5.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $156.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,888,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,308. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $174.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.49. GoDaddy Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.72 and a twelve month high of $216.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08 and a beta of 1.08.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.08). GoDaddy had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 211.09%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that GoDaddy Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Applications and Commerce, and Core Platform. The Applications and Commerce segment provides applications products, including Websites + Marketing, a mobile-optimized online tool that enables customers to build websites and e-commerce enabled online stores; and Managed WordPress, a streamlined and optimized website building that allows customers to easily build and manage a faster WordPress site; Managed WooCommerce Stores to sell anything and anywhere online; and marketing tools and services, such as GoDaddy Studio mobile application, search engine optimization, Meta and Google My Business, and email and social media marketing designed to help businesses acquire and engage customers and create content.