Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Benchmark

Key Points

• Getty Images has been downgraded by Benchmark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, with a new price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 105.28% from its last closing price.
• The company's recent earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.05, surpassing analyst expectations, while revenue increased by 2.5% year-over-year.
• Despite the downgrade, Getty Images has varied ratings from analysts, with current consensus being a "hold" and a price target average of $4.20.

Benchmark cut shares of Getty Images (NYSE:GETY - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Benchmark currently has $3.50 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised shares of Getty Images to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Getty Images from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Getty Images has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.03.

Getty Images Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Getty Images stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $1.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 541,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,784. Getty Images has a one year low of $1.25 and a one year high of $4.49. The company has a market capitalization of $744.58 million, a P/E ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.87. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Getty Images (NYSE:GETY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.11). Getty Images had a negative net margin of 12.19% and a negative return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $234.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.77 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Getty Images will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Getty Images

In related news, CEO Craig Warren Peters sold 33,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.77, for a total transaction of $58,873.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,044.22. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 80,010 shares of company stock worth $141,618 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Getty Images

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Getty Images in the fourth quarter worth about $174,385,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Getty Images by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 49,378 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 15,978 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Getty Images by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 64,007 shares of the company's stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 12,542 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Getty Images by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,225,249 shares of the company's stock worth $22,087,000 after purchasing an additional 698,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in shares of Getty Images in the fourth quarter worth about $3,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.75% of the company's stock.

Getty Images Company Profile

Getty Images Holdings, Inc offers creative and editorial visual content solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Its products include Getty Images that offers creative and editorial content including stills, music and video which focuses on corporate, agency, and media customers; iStock.com, an e-commerce offering where customers have access to creative stills and video; Unsplash.com, a platform offering free stock photo downloads and paid subscriptions targeted to the high-growth prosumer and semi-professional creator segments; and Unsplash+ that provides access to unique model released content with expanded legal protections.