Short Interest in GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) Grows By 16.9%

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,390,000 shares, a growth of 16.9% from the November 15th total of 2,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of GoDaddy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of GoDaddy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of GoDaddy from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of GoDaddy from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of GoDaddy from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.57.

GoDaddy Stock Performance

GDDY stock traded up $3.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $210.00. 478,781 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,456,015. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $180.63 and its 200 day moving average is $160.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.61. The stock has a market cap of $29.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 1.15. GoDaddy has a 52-week low of $99.90 and a 52-week high of $211.11.

GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. GoDaddy had a net margin of 41.74% and a return on equity of 267.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that GoDaddy will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at GoDaddy

In related news, CEO Amanpal Singh Bhutani sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.60, for a total transaction of $466,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 348,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,297,553.60. The trade was a 0.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Mccaffrey sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.60, for a total transaction of $855,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,102 shares in the company, valued at $14,486,671.20. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,503 shares of company stock worth $3,950,683 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of GoDaddy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GDDY. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of GoDaddy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,097 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,837,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of GoDaddy by 4.0% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of GoDaddy by 4.3% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,781 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of GoDaddy by 11.3% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 974 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in GoDaddy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,435 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 90.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.