GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $118.00 to $130.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. GoDaddy traded as high as $127.99 and last traded at $123.60, with a volume of 484746 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $124.33.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $124.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $132.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of GoDaddy in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GoDaddy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.73.

Insider Activity at GoDaddy

In other news, CEO Amanpal Singh Bhutani sold 59,608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.54, for a total transaction of $6,589,068.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 394,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,599,518.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other GoDaddy news, CFO Mark Mccaffrey sold 28,392 shares of GoDaddy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.54, for a total value of $3,138,451.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 120,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,370,034.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Amanpal Singh Bhutani sold 59,608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.54, for a total value of $6,589,068.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 394,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,599,518.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 125,234 shares of company stock valued at $14,025,346. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GoDaddy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of GoDaddy by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,360,266 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $473,713,000 after buying an additional 561,614 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of GoDaddy in the 4th quarter worth about $181,687,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of GoDaddy by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,664,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $123,963,000 after purchasing an additional 695,897 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in GoDaddy by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,435,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $106,890,000 after purchasing an additional 674,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in GoDaddy by 36.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,395,619 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $103,946,000 after buying an additional 375,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.28% of the company’s stock.

GoDaddy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.07.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.05. GoDaddy had a net margin of 40.38% and a negative return on equity of 102.82%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. Analysts expect that GoDaddy Inc. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.