Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) Stock Price

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $228.00 to $206.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company's stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on GoDaddy from $176.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on GoDaddy in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $198.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on GoDaddy from $235.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of GoDaddy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.73.

GoDaddy Stock Performance

Shares of GDDY traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $171.55. 1,166,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,466,370. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $177.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.93. The company has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60 and a beta of 1.19. GoDaddy has a twelve month low of $120.23 and a twelve month high of $216.00. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. GoDaddy had a net margin of 20.49% and a return on equity of 176.06%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that GoDaddy will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Mark Mccaffrey sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.85, for a total value of $989,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 115,375 shares in the company, valued at $20,750,193.75. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Roger Chen sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.75, for a total value of $171,750.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 256,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,130,990.75. The trade was a 0.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,518,150. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GoDaddy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GDDY. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GoDaddy by 7,083.4% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,404,066 shares of the technology company's stock worth $678,941,000 after buying an additional 3,356,678 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in GoDaddy during the fourth quarter worth $356,038,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in GoDaddy by 1,412.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,347,434 shares of the technology company's stock worth $242,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,324 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in GoDaddy by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,386,137 shares of the technology company's stock worth $273,582,000 after purchasing an additional 719,000 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of GoDaddy during the fourth quarter valued at about $111,923,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.28% of the company's stock.

About GoDaddy

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.