Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $94.01, but opened at $99.63. Shopify shares last traded at $99.66, with a volume of 3,106,628 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SHOP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Shopify from $126.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Shopify in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Shopify from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Shopify from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Shopify from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $110.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shopify presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.31.

Shopify Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.12. The company has a market cap of $131.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 2.60.

Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) (TSE:SHOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The software maker reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.10). Shopify had a return on equity of 12.00% and a net margin of 22.74%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Shopify Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shopify

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Shopify by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,102,707 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $5,646,455,000 after purchasing an additional 496,982 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,080,112 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $5,010,721,000 after acquiring an additional 781,162 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 43,732,077 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,653,054,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,000 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,516,305 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,883,039,000 after acquiring an additional 968,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Shopify by 79.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,487,579 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,752,834,000 after acquiring an additional 7,316,862 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.27% of the company’s stock.

Shopify Company Profile

Shopify Inc, a commerce company, provides a commerce platform and services in Canada, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, China, and Latin America. The company’s platform enables merchants to displays, manages, markets, and sells its products through various sales channels, including web and mobile storefronts, physical retail locations, pop-up shops, social media storefronts, native mobile apps, buy buttons, and marketplaces; and enables to manage products and inventory, process orders and payments, fulfill and ship orders, new buyers and build customer relationships, source products, leverage analytics and reporting, manage cash, payments and transactions, and access financing.