Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $62.52, but opened at $68.70. Korn Ferry shares last traded at $68.67, with a volume of 70,290 shares traded.

The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $676.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.45 million. Korn Ferry had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 9.03%. Korn Ferry's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS.

Korn Ferry Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Korn Ferry's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Korn Ferry's payout ratio is currently 31.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KFY. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Korn Ferry from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Korn Ferry from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Arian sold 20,000 shares of Korn Ferry stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.24, for a total value of $1,444,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,975,096.56. This trade represents a 22.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Korn Ferry

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KFY. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Korn Ferry by 80.8% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,042 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Korn Ferry by 5.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 271,969 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $20,463,000 after buying an additional 14,601 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Korn Ferry by 6.4% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Korn Ferry by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,097 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in shares of Korn Ferry by 9.3% during the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,019 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 98.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Korn Ferry Trading Up 9.6 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.53 and a 200-day moving average of $70.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.57.

Korn Ferry Company Profile

Korn Ferry, together with its subsidiaries, provides organizational consulting services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consulting, Digital, Executive Search, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) & Professional Search. The company provides executive search services to recruit board level, chief executive, other senior executive, and general management talent of organizations.

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