Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 128,542 Shares of GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 546,444 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 128,542 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in GoDaddy were worth $107,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in GoDaddy in the third quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in GoDaddy during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in GoDaddy by 311.3% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in GoDaddy in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of GoDaddy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at GoDaddy

In other news, Director Brian Sharples sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.70, for a total transaction of $103,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,621 shares in the company, valued at $4,698,381.70. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Amanpal Singh Bhutani sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.70, for a total value of $623,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 330,153 shares in the company, valued at $68,572,778.10. This represents a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,480 shares of company stock valued at $2,024,939. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

GoDaddy Price Performance

NYSE:GDDY opened at $180.48 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.78. GoDaddy Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $216.00. The stock has a market cap of $25.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.46.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.01). GoDaddy had a return on equity of 176.06% and a net margin of 20.49%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that GoDaddy Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GDDY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $224.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley increased their price objective on GoDaddy from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on GoDaddy from $235.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of GoDaddy in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $198.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of GoDaddy from $172.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.20.

GoDaddy Company Profile

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.