Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $1.04 Million Position in The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its position in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) by 78.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 221,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 785,672 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.20% of Honest worth $1,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Honest in the 1st quarter valued at $10,554,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Honest by 98.8% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,073,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,445,000 after buying an additional 1,527,080 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Honest by 103.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,046,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,185,000 after buying an additional 1,041,040 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Honest by 138.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 899,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,229,000 after buying an additional 522,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Honest by 642.4% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 326,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after buying an additional 282,098 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Honest from $5.50 to $4.25 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Honest from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Honest from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.96.

Honest Stock Performance

HNST opened at $3.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $439.52 million, a P/E ratio of 79.02 and a beta of 2.32. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.32 and a 52-week high of $8.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.29 and its 200-day moving average is $4.66.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $93.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.18 million. Honest had a return on equity of 3.84% and a net margin of 1.66%. On average, research analysts predict that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Honest

In related news, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 12,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total value of $44,015.35. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 568,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,075,346.20. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total value of $39,569.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 410,257 shares in the company, valued at $1,497,438.05. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 131,890 shares of company stock valued at $481,399. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.