Talkspace (NASDAQ:TALK) Trading Up 7.6% – Still a Buy?

Talkspace, Inc. (NASDAQ:TALK)’s stock price rose 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $3.57 and last traded at $3.56. Approximately 794,749 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 1,611,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TALK shares. Northland Securities began coverage on Talkspace in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Talkspace in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Talkspace from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Talkspace to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Talkspace currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.00.

Talkspace Stock Up 4.2 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $582.77 million, a PE ratio of -352.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Talkspace (NASDAQ:TALK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $47.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.50 million. Talkspace had a negative return on equity of 1.17% and a negative net margin of 0.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Talkspace, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Talkspace

In related news, CFO Ian Jiro Harris purchased 23,100 shares of Talkspace stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.11 per share, with a total value of $48,741.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 397,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $839,056.27. This represents a 6.17 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 21.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Talkspace in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Talkspace in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Talkspace by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 6,179 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Talkspace during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Talkspace during the 1st quarter worth approximately $74,000. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Talkspace

Talkspace, Inc operates as a virtual behavioral healthcare company in the United States. The company offers psychotherapy and psychiatry services through its platform to individuals, enterprises, and health plans and employee assistance programs. It provides text, audio, and video-based psychotherapy from licensed therapists.