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

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 546,444 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,542 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of GoDaddy worth $107,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of GoDaddy by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,892,134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,080,549,000 after purchasing an additional 147,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in GoDaddy by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,423,622 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,153,000 after buying an additional 84,550 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of GoDaddy by 7,083.4% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,404,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $678,941,000 after buying an additional 3,356,678 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of GoDaddy in the fourth quarter worth about $356,038,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in GoDaddy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 949,691 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $187,441,000 after acquiring an additional 26,341 shares in the last quarter. 90.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GoDaddy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of GoDaddy stock opened at $180.48 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $188.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.78. GoDaddy Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.76 and a 52-week high of $216.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.46, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of GoDaddy from $172.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on GoDaddy from $240.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut GoDaddy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on GoDaddy from $227.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on shares of GoDaddy from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at GoDaddy

In other GoDaddy news, Director Brian Sharples sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.70, for a total value of $103,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Roger Chen sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total value of $174,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 257,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,937,295.29. This trade represents a 0.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,480 shares of company stock valued at $2,024,939 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.61% 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.