Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on GETY. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Getty Images from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Getty Images in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Getty Images presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.78.

Getty Images Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GETY opened at $0.85 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $0.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $354.86 million, a P/E ratio of -3.26 and a beta of 2.06. Getty Images has a twelve month low of $0.58 and a twelve month high of $3.21.

Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.02). Getty Images had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a negative return on equity of 17.01%. The company had revenue of $226.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.90 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Getty Images will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Cho Mikael sold 59,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.94, for a total value of $56,027.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 121,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,351. This represents a 32.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Teaster sold 38,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.79, for a total value of $30,099.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 488,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,200.98. The trade was a 7.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 133,355 shares of company stock valued at $120,542 in the last quarter. 12.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koch Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Getty Images by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Koch Inc. now owns 115,259,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,447,000 after buying an additional 34,525,639 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Getty Images by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 150,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 19,859 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Getty Images by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 123,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 39,495 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Getty Images by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 80,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Getty Images in the 4th quarter worth $91,000. 45.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Getty Images Company Profile

Getty Images (NYSE: GETY) is a leading global provider of digital visual content, offering an extensive library of stock photography, editorial imagery, video footage and music. The company supplies creative and rights-managed assets to a broad range of industries, including advertising, media, corporate communications and publishing. Through its online platform and licensing services, Getty Images enables customers to search, license and download multimedia content for commercial and editorial use.

Founded in 1995 by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein, Getty Images pioneered the aggregation of photographic archives into a centralized, digital marketplace.