Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) Rating Lowered to "Strong Sell" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Getty Images has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" by Zacks Research, indicating a significant shift in analyst sentiment towards the company.
• The stock currently trades at approximately $1.88, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $4.03.
• Despite a 2.5% increase in revenue year-over-year, Getty Images reported an earnings per share of ($0.08), missing analyst estimates by ($0.11).

Getty Images (NYSE:GETY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, September 8th,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on GETY. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $1.85 price objective (down previously from $2.05) on shares of Getty Images in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Getty Images from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Benchmark lowered Getty Images from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $3.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on Getty Images from $7.70 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Getty Images currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $4.03.

Getty Images Stock Performance

GETY stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $2.03. The stock had a trading volume of 450,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,549,272. The stock has a market cap of $839.99 million, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.82. Getty Images has a 52-week low of $1.25 and a 52-week high of $4.49.

Getty Images (NYSE:GETY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $234.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $234.77 million. Getty Images had a negative return on equity of 14.39% and a negative net margin of 12.19%.The business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. Getty Images has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Getty Images will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Getty Images

In other news, CEO Craig Warren Peters sold 33,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.77, for a total transaction of $58,873.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,686 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,044.22. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 81,445 shares of company stock worth $144,287. 11.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Getty Images

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Getty Images in the 4th quarter worth about $174,385,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Getty Images by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,471,652 shares of the company's stock worth $18,116,000 after buying an additional 246,403 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Getty Images in the 1st quarter worth about $4,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Getty Images by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,434,545 shares of the company's stock worth $4,041,000 after buying an additional 742,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Getty Images by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,866,490 shares of the company's stock worth $3,099,000 after buying an additional 228,532 shares during the last quarter. 45.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.