Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) Shares Down 6.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Flutter Entertainment PLC (NYSE:FLUT) fell 6.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $164.00 to $161.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Flutter Entertainment traded as low as $95.94 and last traded at $94.6880. 848,425 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,728,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.19.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Flutter Entertainment from $216.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Flutter Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Flutter Entertainment from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Flutter Entertainment from $270.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson cut shares of Flutter Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.23.

Insider Transactions at Flutter Entertainment

In other news, CFO Robert Coldrake sold 4,613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $491,053.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,138.70. This represents a 31.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Amy Howe sold 8,895 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.91, for a total transaction of $942,069.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 78,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,355,133.99. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 17,834 shares of company stock worth $1,900,331 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flutter Entertainment

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FLUT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Flutter Entertainment by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,559,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,460,076,000 after purchasing an additional 301,879 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Flutter Entertainment by 146.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,039,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,728,772,000 after purchasing an additional 4,782,302 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Flutter Entertainment in the fourth quarter worth $1,678,841,000. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Flutter Entertainment by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Caledonia Private Investments Pty Ltd now owns 7,191,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,546,538,000 after purchasing an additional 264,856 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Flutter Entertainment by 33,988.7% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 5,605,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,185,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589,099 shares during the period.

Flutter Entertainment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.21, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.00.

Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. Flutter Entertainment had a negative net margin of 2.20% and a positive return on equity of 11.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Flutter Entertainment PLC will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Flutter Entertainment announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Flutter Entertainment

Flutter Entertainment plc is a global sports betting and gaming company that operates a portfolio of consumer-facing brands and digital platforms. The company’s primary activities include online sports betting, casino gaming, poker, and daily fantasy sports, delivered through web and mobile applications as well as retail betting locations in select markets. Flutter focuses on product development, customer acquisition and engagement, and compliance with local gambling regulations across the jurisdictions where it operates.

Flutter’s brand portfolio includes well-known names in different regional markets, such as FanDuel in the United States, PokerStars, Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky Betting & Gaming in Europe and elsewhere.