Stock Buyback Program Authorized by Elastic (NYSE:ESTC) Board

Key Points

• Elastic's Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan, allowing the company to repurchase shares through open market purchases, which typically indicates management believes the stock is undervalued.
• Equities research analysts generally maintain a positive outlook on Elastic, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.60, reflecting bullish expectations for the stock.
• Insider sales have occurred recently, with Ken Exner and Carolyn Herzog selling shares, together valued at approximately $1 million, highlighting notable insider activity amidst a 2.1% drop in the stock price.

Elastic (NYSE:ESTC - Get Free Report) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 9th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESTC shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Elastic in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Scotiabank set a $90.00 target price on shares of Elastic and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Elastic in a research note on Friday, August 29th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Elastic from $111.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Elastic from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.60.

Elastic Stock Down 2.1%

ESTC traded down $1.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $81.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,526,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,498,729. Elastic has a 12 month low of $70.14 and a 12 month high of $118.84. The business's fifty day moving average price is $83.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.68. The company has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -101.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Insider Activity at Elastic

In other news, insider Ken Exner sold 6,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.12, for a total value of $566,854.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 233,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,050,409.84. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Carolyn Herzog sold 5,143 shares of Elastic stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.12, for a total transaction of $463,487.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 94,677 shares in the company, valued at $8,532,291.24. The trade was a 5.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 350,792 shares of company stock valued at $30,978,369 in the last 90 days. 12.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Elastic Company Profile

Elastic N.V., a data analytics company, delivers solutions designed to run in public or private clouds in multi-cloud environments. It primarily offers Elastic Stack, a set of software products that ingest and store data from various sources and formats, as well as performs search, analysis, and visualization on that data.

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.