Unity Software (NYSE:U) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Shares of Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:U) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 31,898,925 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 263% from the previous session’s volume of 8,795,304 shares.The stock last traded at $30.1490 and had previously closed at $38.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on U shares. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Unity Software from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded Unity Software from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $43.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Unity Software in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Unity Software from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Unity Software from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.27.

Unity Software Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.25. The firm has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 42.10 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.78.

Unity Software (NYSE:U) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Unity Software had a negative return on equity of 9.45% and a negative net margin of 24.15%.The firm had revenue of $470.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $452.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. Unity Software’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Unity Software Inc. will post -1.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unity Software

In related news, Director Tomer Bar-Zeev sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $2,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 873,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,037,862. This trade represents a 5.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jarrod Yahes sold 27,742 shares of Unity Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $1,187,080.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 546,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,368,859.91. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,647,935 shares of company stock valued at $75,174,498. Corporate insiders own 3.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unity Software

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Unity Software by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,213,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,284,000 after purchasing an additional 6,734,285 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Unity Software in the second quarter worth about $151,221,000. Slate Path Capital LP increased its position in shares of Unity Software by 25.4% in the second quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 20,016,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,410,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048,484 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Unity Software during the third quarter valued at approximately $106,233,000. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unity Software in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,932,000. 73.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Unity Software

Unity Software is a leading provider of a real-time 3D development platform that enables creators across industries to design, build and operate interactive, real-time experiences. Originally focused on the game development market, Unity’s technology now extends into sectors such as film, automotive, architecture, engineering and construction, delivering immersive content for mobile, desktop, console, augmented reality and virtual reality devices. The company’s core offering comprises a suite of authoring tools, runtime engines and cloud services that streamline the creation and deployment of interactive 3D applications.

The Unity Editor serves as the central hub where developers design scenes, script behavior and iterate on assets.