Short Interest in GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) Expands By 19.7%

Key Points

• Short interest in GoDaddy Inc. increased by 19.7% in August, climbing to 6,390,000 shares, which represents approximately 4.7% of the company's total shares.
• Several research analysts have lowered their price targets for GoDaddy, with Barclays setting a new target of $200.00, while the consensus price target is now $202.43.
• Insiders sold 34,828 shares of GoDaddy stock worth around $5.4 million in the past three months, and institutional investors now hold 90.28% of the company’s stock.

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,390,000 shares, a growth of 19.7% from the August 15th total of 5,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on GDDY shares. Barclays lowered their price target on GoDaddy from $235.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on GoDaddy from $198.00 to $157.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on GoDaddy from $234.00 to $214.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler set a $182.00 price objective on GoDaddy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on GoDaddy from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Roger Chen sold 1,000 shares of GoDaddy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.71, for a total value of $145,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 251,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,711,488.79. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Sharples sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.26, for a total value of $73,130.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,065,170.82. This represents a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,828 shares of company stock worth $5,394,638 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GoDaddy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in GoDaddy in the second quarter valued at about $341,588,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of GoDaddy by 257.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,236,850 shares of the technology company's stock worth $402,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610,890 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of GoDaddy by 1,412.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,347,434 shares of the technology company's stock worth $242,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,324 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of GoDaddy by 2,289.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 873,626 shares of the technology company's stock worth $157,305,000 after purchasing an additional 837,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of GoDaddy by 41.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,439,905 shares of the technology company's stock worth $439,525,000 after purchasing an additional 710,842 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.28% of the company's stock.

GoDaddy Trading Down 1.0%

GoDaddy stock traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $144.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,507,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,405,050. The company has a 50 day moving average of $152.05 and a 200-day moving average of $169.36. The stock has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.33, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. GoDaddy has a one year low of $132.51 and a one year high of $216.00.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.07. GoDaddy had a return on equity of 189.42% and a net margin of 17.01%.The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. GoDaddy has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that GoDaddy will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

About GoDaddy

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.