Morgan Stanley Cuts Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) Price Target to $44.00

Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Etsy from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Etsy in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Etsy in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Etsy from $64.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Etsy from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.08.

Etsy Stock Performance

ETSY opened at $51.40 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.81. Etsy has a 1 year low of $47.10 and a 1 year high of $78.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 2.00.

Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $852.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $861.37 million. Etsy had a net margin of 9.17% and a negative return on equity of 46.79%. Etsy’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Etsy will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Etsy declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 17.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Etsy news, insider Nicholas Daniel sold 1,500 shares of Etsy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.34, for a total value of $83,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,437.32. The trade was a 6.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Etsy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in Etsy by 152.4% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 264,689 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,698,000 after purchasing an additional 159,820 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Etsy by 183.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,961,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $331,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,861,668 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Etsy by 313.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 542,505 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,125,000 after purchasing an additional 411,165 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Etsy by 258.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 118,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,576,000 after acquiring an additional 85,396 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Etsy by 740.9% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 55,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,082,000 after acquiring an additional 48,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.53% of the company’s stock.

About Etsy

Etsy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, and France. Its primary marketplace is Etsy.com that connects artisans and entrepreneurs with various consumers. The company also offers Reverb, a musical instrument marketplace; Depop, a fashion resale marketplace; and Elo7, a Brazil-based marketplace for handmade and unique items.