Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Shares Down 4% - Time to Sell?

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) traded down 4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $4.70 and last traded at $4.72. 862,669 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 2,462,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.70.

Honest Stock Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $4.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $511.51 million, a PE ratio of -232.00 and a beta of 2.35.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $97.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $92.46 million. Honest had a negative net margin of 0.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.95%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Honest

In other Honest news, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 4,788 shares of Honest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.32, for a total transaction of $25,472.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 302,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,611,704.64. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David Loretta sold 34,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.32, for a total transaction of $182,949.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 883,153 shares in the company, valued at $4,698,373.96. The trade was a 3.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 165,726 shares of company stock worth $881,662. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Honest

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Honest in the first quarter valued at $10,554,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Honest by 589.7% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,397,636 shares of the company's stock worth $16,616,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049,981 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Honest by 98.8% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,073,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527,080 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Honest by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,147,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,671,000 after buying an additional 1,052,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Honest by 103.5% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,046,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,185,000 after buying an additional 1,041,040 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.54% of the company's stock.

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.