GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• GoDaddy's stock price gapped down to $140.48 after Barclays reduced its price target from $235.00 to $200.00, despite maintaining an overweight rating on the stock.
• Insiders, including COO Roger Chen and CFO Mark Mccaffrey, have sold shares recently, indicating potential concerns about future performance.
• Overall, GoDaddy has a current average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts and an average price target of $212.50, with a mix of hold and buy ratings from various research firms.

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $235.00 to $200.00. The stock had previously closed at $150.25, but opened at $140.48. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. GoDaddy shares last traded at $141.86, with a volume of 752,848 shares traded.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GDDY. Wall Street Zen lowered GoDaddy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of GoDaddy in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler set a $182.00 target price on GoDaddy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $231.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on GoDaddy from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GoDaddy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Roger Chen sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.59, for a total transaction of $169,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 253,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,067,210.91. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mccaffrey sold 625 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.08, for a total transaction of $110,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 73,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,008,119.72. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,257 shares of company stock worth $5,827,280. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GoDaddy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GDDY. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in GoDaddy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,668,000. FIL Ltd purchased a new position in GoDaddy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,920,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in GoDaddy during the fourth quarter worth $1,485,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in GoDaddy during the fourth quarter worth $876,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in GoDaddy by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 22,617 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,464,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares during the last quarter. 90.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GoDaddy Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $19.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.34.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. GoDaddy had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 211.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that GoDaddy Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GoDaddy Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.