HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,418,266 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the December 15th total of 1,189,679 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 724,236 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 724,236 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

HubSpot Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of HUBS stock traded down $6.90 on Tuesday, hitting $304.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,216,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,071,064. HubSpot has a twelve month low of $302.00 and a twelve month high of $881.13. The firm has a market cap of $15.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -3,812.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $376.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $447.79.

HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The software maker reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $809.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.80 million. HubSpot had a positive return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.HubSpot’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that HubSpot will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUBS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research began coverage on HubSpot in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price target on HubSpot from $775.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and set a $450.00 price target (down previously from $610.00) on shares of HubSpot in a research note on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of HubSpot from $550.00 to $465.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Rothschild Redb cut shares of HubSpot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HubSpot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HubSpot news, Director Brian Halligan sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.99, for a total transaction of $3,119,415.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 496,308 shares in the company, valued at $182,140,072.92. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 17,235 shares of company stock worth $6,364,276 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HubSpot

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUBS. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HubSpot during the second quarter worth $27,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of HubSpot by 136.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 52 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in HubSpot by 783.3% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 53 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in HubSpot in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new position in HubSpot in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

About HubSpot

HubSpot, Inc is a software company that develops a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed to help organizations attract, engage and delight customers. Its primary business activities center on providing integrated marketing, sales and customer service tools that support inbound marketing strategies, content management, lead nurturing, sales automation and customer support workflows.

The company’s product suite is organized around modular “hubs” built on a central CRM: Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub and Operations Hub.