Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $78.65, but opened at $73.88. Korn Ferry shares last traded at $73.66, with a volume of 87,861 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Korn Ferry from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Korn Ferry Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The business services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.21. Korn Ferry had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 6.68%. The business had revenue of $682.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $675.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Korn Ferry’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Korn Ferry will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Korn Ferry Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. Korn Ferry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.29%.

Insider Activity at Korn Ferry

In related news, insider Michael Distefano sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.36, for a total transaction of $361,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,954 shares in the company, valued at $3,687,031.44. The trade was a 8.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary D. Burnison sold 16,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total value of $1,205,089.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 356,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,424,298.20. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $6,329,320 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Korn Ferry

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Korn Ferry in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,158,000. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Korn Ferry by 216.4% during the second quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 25,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,682,000 after acquiring an additional 17,132 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Korn Ferry by 7.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 949,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,431,000 after purchasing an additional 62,385 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Korn Ferry in the second quarter worth $653,000. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Korn Ferry by 7.7% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 295,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,837,000 after purchasing an additional 21,235 shares during the period. 98.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Korn Ferry

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.