Morgan Stanley Raises Unity Software (NYSE:U) Price Target to $44.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for Unity Software from $40.00 to $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 24.26% from the current stock price.
• While Morgan Stanley rates the stock as "overweight," other firms have mixed outlooks, with some assigning "sell" and "underperform" ratings, highlighting a divided sentiment among analysts.
• Unity Software's recent quarterly earnings report indicated a slight revenue decline year-over-year, along with a reported EPS of ($0.26) that missed analysts' expectations.

Unity Software (NYSE:U - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 24.26% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on U. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Unity Software in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Unity Software from $29.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Unity Software from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Unity Software in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Unity Software to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.81.

Unity Software Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of U traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $35.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,542,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,101,229. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Unity Software has a 52 week low of $15.33 and a 52 week high of $46.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.17 and a 200 day moving average of $30.25. The company has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.38 and a beta of 2.32.

Unity Software (NYSE:U - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.25) by ($0.01). Unity Software had a negative net margin of 24.38% and a negative return on equity of 13.59%. The firm had revenue of $440.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.32) EPS. Unity Software's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Unity Software will post -1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Unity Software

In other news, CFO Jarrod Yahes sold 29,876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.32, for a total transaction of $1,174,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 638,504 shares in the company, valued at $25,105,977.28. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Tomer Bar-Zeev sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.83, for a total transaction of $9,957,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,548,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,662,655.18. This represents a 13.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,236,951 shares of company stock worth $95,081,659. Company insiders own 3.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unity Software

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of U. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Unity Software by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,632 shares of the company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Unity Software by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,663 shares of the company's stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Unity Software by 90.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC bought a new position in Unity Software in the 3rd quarter valued at about $315,000. Finally, Revisor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Unity Software in the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. 73.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unity Software Company Profile

Unity Software Inc operates a real-time 3D development platform. Its platform provides software solutions to create, run, and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. The company offers its solutions directly through its online store and field sales operations in North America, Denmark, Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea, as well as indirectly through independent distributors and resellers worldwide.

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