Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY)

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 3,438 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 211% compared to the average volume of 1,104 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on GoDaddy from $200.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on GoDaddy from $145.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays cut their price target on GoDaddy from $200.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of GoDaddy in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.57.

GoDaddy Trading Up 2.4%

GDDY traded up $1.91 during trading on Monday, hitting $81.88. 398,524 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,573. GoDaddy has a 1 year low of $73.06 and a 1 year high of $193.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.14. The firm has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.50.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The technology company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.22. GoDaddy had a return on equity of 369.00% and a net margin of 17.67%.The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that GoDaddy will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at GoDaddy

In related news, CEO Amanpal Singh Bhutani sold 34,148 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $3,038,830.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 530,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,175,378.80. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leah Sweet sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.86, for a total transaction of $56,459.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $991,420.04. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,918 shares of company stock worth $5,500,469. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GoDaddy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of GoDaddy in the 4th quarter valued at about $250,020,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of GoDaddy by 117.5% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,989,931 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,005 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of GoDaddy by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,532,548 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $483,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,646 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in GoDaddy by 2,289.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 873,626 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $157,305,000 after purchasing an additional 837,065 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in GoDaddy by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,631,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,183,000 after buying an additional 814,360 shares during the last quarter. 90.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a technology company that provides a suite of online services aimed primarily at small businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals looking to establish and grow an online presence. The company’s core activities include domain name registration and aftermarket services, a range of website hosting options, and tools for building, managing and promoting websites. Its product mix is designed to simplify the technical aspects of running a website so customers can focus on their businesses.

Product and service offerings span website builders and managed WordPress hosting, shared and dedicated hosting, e-commerce capabilities, email and productivity solutions, SSL certificates and site security tools, and online marketing and search engine optimization services.