Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GETY) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $2.01, but opened at $1.87. Getty Images shares last traded at $1.78, with a volume of 142,171 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.17). Getty Images had a return on equity of 6.42% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $224.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.01 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GETY shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.70 target price on shares of Getty Images in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Benchmark decreased their price target on Getty Images from $6.00 to $4.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $2.45 price objective on shares of Getty Images in a report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Getty Images news, SVP Cho Mikael sold 18,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.12, for a total transaction of $39,410.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 123,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,587.44. This represents a 13.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Nathaniel Gandert sold 15,859 shares of Getty Images stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.12, for a total transaction of $33,621.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 534,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,132,879.24. This trade represents a 2.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 226,668 shares of company stock valued at $480,536 in the last ninety days. 12.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GETY. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Getty Images by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 49,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 15,978 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Getty Images by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 156,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 49,995 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Getty Images by 71.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 352,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 146,576 shares during the period. Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Getty Images during the 4th quarter worth approximately $183,865,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Getty Images by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,225,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,087,000 after purchasing an additional 698,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.75% of the company’s stock.

Getty Images Stock Down 13.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $715.81 million, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.45.

About Getty Images

Getty Images Holdings, Inc offers creative and editorial visual content solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Its products include Getty Images that offers creative and editorial content including stills, music and video which focuses on corporate, agency, and media customers; iStock.com, an e-commerce offering where customers have access to creative stills and video; Unsplash.com, a platform offering free stock photo downloads and paid subscriptions targeted to the high-growth prosumer and semi-professional creator segments; and Unsplash+ that provides access to unique model released content with expanded legal protections.