Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Reduces Position in The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in The Honest Company by 78%, now holding 221,203 shares valued at approximately $1.04 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Victory Capital Management Inc., have significantly increased their holdings in Honest, with 45.54% of the stock now owned by various institutional investors.
• Analysts have adjusted their price targets for The Honest Company, with Morgan Stanley lowering its target from $5.50 to $4.25, while the consensus rating is currently a "Hold" with a target price of $6.96.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Free Report) by 78.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,203 shares of the company's stock after selling 785,672 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.20% of Honest worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Honest during the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,554,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Honest by 68.2% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 272,284 shares of the company's stock worth $1,280,000 after buying an additional 110,408 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Honest in the 4th quarter worth $932,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 103.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,046,868 shares of the company's stock worth $14,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 210,351 shares of the company's stock worth $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 81,227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HNST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Honest from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Honest from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Honest from $5.50 to $4.25 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Honest currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.96.

Honest Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HNST traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $4.09. 2,716,284 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,896,396. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.32 and a 12-month high of $8.97. The company has a market cap of $455.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.82 and a beta of 2.33. The business's fifty day moving average price is $4.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.64.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). Honest had a return on equity of 3.84% and a net margin of 1.66%.The business had revenue of $93.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $92.18 million. Equities analysts expect that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Honest news, CEO Carla Vernon sold 99,328 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total value of $362,547.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,998,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,946,324.45. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 12,059 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total value of $44,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 568,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,075,346.20. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,890 shares of company stock valued at $481,399 over the last quarter. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.