Trexquant Investment LP Boosts Stock Position in Coty $COTY

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Coty by 72.7%, acquiring a total of over 2.4 million shares, valued at approximately $13.33 million.
• Coty recently reported earnings of ($0.05) per share, missing expectations, despite generating $1.25 billion in revenue.
• Several analysts have downgraded Coty's stock price targets, with current consensus ranging from $4.00 to $6.19 depending on the firm.

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in shares of Coty (NYSE:COTY - Free Report) by 72.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,436,221 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,025,684 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.28% of Coty worth $13,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Coty by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,645,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,921,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055,771 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Coty by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,346,995 shares of the company's stock worth $122,239,000 after buying an additional 2,132,613 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Coty by 58.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,585,632 shares of the company's stock worth $31,916,000 after buying an additional 1,695,358 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Coty by 162.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,300,292 shares of the company's stock worth $23,523,000 after buying an additional 2,660,221 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Coty in the fourth quarter worth $28,473,000. Institutional investors own 42.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Laurent Mercier acquired 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.96 per share, for a total transaction of $49,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 402,216 shares in the company, valued at $1,592,775.36. The trade was a 3.21% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Priya Srinivasan acquired 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.84 per share, with a total value of $115,200.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 37,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $144,034.56. This represents a 399.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 305,500 shares of company stock worth $1,195,420 over the last quarter. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on COTY shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Coty from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Coty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $4.25 price objective (down from $6.50) on shares of Coty in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Coty from $5.00 to $4.25 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Coty from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.19.

Coty Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE COTY traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.33. 6,898,446 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,317,763. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of -9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 2.07. Coty has a one year low of $3.67 and a one year high of $9.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Coty (NYSE:COTY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Coty had a negative net margin of 6.24% and a positive return on equity of 5.18%. The company's revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Coty will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

Coty Profile

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.