Bakkt (NYSE:BKKT) Price Target Cut to $12.00 by Analysts at Benchmark

Bakkt (NYSE:BKKT) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Benchmark from $19.00 to $12.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 63.93% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BKKT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bakkt from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Bakkt from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Bakkt Price Performance

Shares of BKKT stock opened at $7.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $326.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.34 and a beta of 5.91. Bakkt has a one year low of $6.75 and a one year high of $49.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.24.

Bakkt (NYSE:BKKT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $1.91. Bakkt had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a negative return on equity of 54.97%. The company had revenue of $170.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.27 million.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael Alfred bought 365,000 shares of Bakkt stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.34 per share, with a total value of $3,044,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 405,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,377,700. The trade was a 912.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired a total of 865,000 shares of company stock worth $7,018,900 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bakkt

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bakkt by 131.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,362,000 after purchasing an additional 377,101 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Bakkt during the 4th quarter worth $5,643,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Bakkt by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 489,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after acquiring an additional 56,910 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Bakkt during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,775,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Bakkt by 638.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 264,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,655,000 after purchasing an additional 228,653 shares in the last quarter. 11.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bakkt Company Profile

Bakkt Holdings, Inc is a digital asset platform that aims to bridge traditional finance and digital assets by offering institutional-grade custody, trading and settlement services. Established in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the company initially made headlines with the launch of its physically settled Bitcoin futures contracts in 2019. Since then, Bakkt has expanded its product lineup to include spot trading of cryptocurrencies, a secure digital wallet for retail customers and a payment gateway that enables merchants to accept digital assets alongside fiat currencies.

The company’s core offering centers on its custody infrastructure, which is built to meet robust regulatory and security standards.