Insider Selling: MarketWise (NASDAQ:MKTW) General Counsel Sells $13,608.54 in Stock

MarketWise, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTW) General Counsel Scott Daniel Forney sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.14, for a total value of $13,608.54. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 21,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $410,725.26. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

MarketWise Stock Performance

Shares of MarketWise stock opened at $18.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $294.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.30. MarketWise, Inc. has a one year low of $13.49 and a one year high of $21.74.

MarketWise (NASDAQ:MKTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The newsletter publisher reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter. MarketWise had a net margin of 1.29% and a negative return on equity of 1.86%. The company had revenue of $77.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.74 million. Sell-side analysts predict that MarketWise, Inc. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketWise Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from MarketWise’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. MarketWise’s payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MKTW shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MarketWise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MarketWise from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketWise

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in MarketWise by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,631 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 9,961 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketWise by 300.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 121,661 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 91,282 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketWise by 13.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,627 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,113 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in MarketWise by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,737 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in MarketWise by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,174 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 7,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 23.04% of the company’s stock.

MarketWise Company Profile

MarketWise, Inc operates a content and technology multi-brand platform for self-directed investors in the United States and Internationally. Its platform includes subscription businesses that provides financial research, software, education, and tools to navigate the financial markets. The company offers various investment strategies, such as value investing, income, growth, commodities, cryptocurrencies, venture, crowdfunded investing, biotechnology, mutual funds, options, and trading; investment research product portfolio through a range of media, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile; and financial newsletters.