Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY) by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 245,710 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Etsy worth $4,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ETSY. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Etsy by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 85,395 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Etsy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,528,736 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $929,695,000 after purchasing an additional 91,900 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Etsy by 703.2% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 13,895 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 12,165 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Etsy by 7,221.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 29,871 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 29,463 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Etsy by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 87,702 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,032,000 after acquiring an additional 19,862 shares during the period. 99.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Etsy

In other news, CAO Merilee Buckley sold 1,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total value of $85,660.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daniel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.40, for a total transaction of $41,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,798.20. This represents a 3.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,369 shares of company stock valued at $280,200 over the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ETSY. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Etsy in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Etsy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Etsy from $64.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Etsy from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Etsy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.87.

Etsy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ETSY opened at $50.56 on Tuesday. Etsy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.10 and a 1-year high of $89.58. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.89.

Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.09). Etsy had a net margin of 9.17% and a negative return on equity of 46.79%. The firm had revenue of $662.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $652.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Etsy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Etsy, Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Etsy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 17.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Etsy

Etsy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, and France. Its primary marketplace is Etsy.com that connects artisans and entrepreneurs with various consumers. The company also offers Reverb, a musical instrument marketplace; Depop, a fashion resale marketplace; and Elo7, a Brazil-based marketplace for handmade and unique items.