Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Flutter Entertainment PLC (NYSE:FLUT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $325.00 to $300.00. The stock had previously closed at $234.45, but opened at $219.48. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Flutter Entertainment shares last traded at $215.4670, with a volume of 1,024,219 shares traded.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Flutter Entertainment from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Peel Hunt cut shares of Flutter Entertainment from an “add” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Flutter Entertainment from $350.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Flutter Entertainment from $356.00 to $339.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Flutter Entertainment from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flutter Entertainment news, CEO Amy Howe sold 4,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.91, for a total transaction of $1,253,313.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 69,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,367,813.50. This trade represents a 5.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeremy Peter Jackson sold 2,112 shares of Flutter Entertainment stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.42, for a total value of $617,591.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,341,064.48. The trade was a 6.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flutter Entertainment

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLUT. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flutter Entertainment by 59.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Flutter Entertainment in the 1st quarter valued at about $958,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Flutter Entertainment by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Flutter Entertainment by 213.6% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP grew its stake in Flutter Entertainment by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 2,193,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,035,000 after buying an additional 316,411 shares in the last quarter.

Flutter Entertainment Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $257.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.97. The stock has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a PE ratio of 106.40 and a beta of 1.84.

Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Flutter Entertainment had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 2.96%.Flutter Entertainment’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Flutter Entertainment has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Flutter Entertainment PLC will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flutter Entertainment announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, August 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $245.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Flutter Entertainment

Flutter Entertainment plc operates as a sports betting and gaming company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, the United States, Italy, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: UK & Ireland, Australia, International, and US. It offers sports betting, iGaming, daily fantasy sports, online racing wagering, and TV broadcasting products; sportsbooks and exchange sports betting products, and gaming products; and online sports betting.