Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK) Short Interest Down 14.8% in March

Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,361,329 shares, a decline of 14.8% from the March 15th total of 1,596,900 shares. Approximately 5.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 229,412 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Shutterstock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Shutterstock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Shutterstock by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 3,263 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Shutterstock by 109.3% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 626,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,674,000 after acquiring an additional 327,203 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Shutterstock by 22.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 115,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 21,083 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Shutterstock in the second quarter valued at about $195,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Shutterstock by 6.1% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 25,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.79% of the company’s stock.

Shutterstock Stock Down 1.3%

Shutterstock stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.70. 177,159 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 211,214. Shutterstock has a 52-week low of $14.36 and a 52-week high of $29.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $629.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 1.18.

Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The business services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.38). Shutterstock had a net margin of 4.60% and a return on equity of 16.13%. The firm had revenue of $220.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Shutterstock will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shutterstock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.1%. This is an increase from Shutterstock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Shutterstock’s dividend payout ratio is 111.63%.

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc (NYSE:SSTK) operates a leading global creative platform that provides royalty-free stock content to businesses, marketing agencies and media outlets. Its primary offerings include high-resolution photographs, vector graphics, illustrations, video footage and music tracks, all available through subscription plans or on-demand licensing. The platform also features customizable design tools and collaborative workspaces that enable customers to create and manage visual content more efficiently.

Founded in 2003 by Jon Oringer, Shutterstock began as an online marketplace offering a modest selection of images and quickly scaled its library to hundreds of millions of assets.