Etsy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:ETSY)

Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 31,826 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 80% compared to the average daily volume of 17,650 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Etsy news, insider Nicholas Daniel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.15, for a total transaction of $39,862.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,335,181.15. This represents a 2.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Toni Thompson Nadal sold 1,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total transaction of $73,751.73. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,257.12. This represents a 70.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,069 shares of company stock worth $261,888. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Etsy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETSY. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Etsy by 183.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Etsy by 304.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,402,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $82,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,296 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Etsy during the third quarter worth about $55,530,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Etsy during the third quarter worth about $49,061,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Etsy by 21.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,215,370 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $248,623,000 after acquiring an additional 734,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETSY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Etsy from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Etsy from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Etsy from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Etsy from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Etsy from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Etsy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.71.

Etsy Price Performance

Shares of ETSY stock opened at $59.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.19. Etsy has a 1-year low of $47.10 and a 1-year high of $89.58.

Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $662.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $652.47 million. Etsy had a negative return on equity of 46.79% and a net margin of 9.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Etsy will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Etsy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 17.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Etsy Company Profile

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.