Insider Selling: MarketWise (NASDAQ:MKTW) Insider Sells 3,973 Shares of Stock

MarketWise, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTW) insider Erik Mickels sold 3,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.14, for a total transaction of $76,043.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,241.74. This trade represents a 5.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

MarketWise Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:MKTW traded down $0.28 on Thursday, reaching $18.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,588. The firm has a market cap of $294.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.26. MarketWise, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.49 and a 12-month high of $21.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.28.

MarketWise (NASDAQ:MKTW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The newsletter publisher reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $77.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.74 million. MarketWise had a negative return on equity of 1.86% and a net margin of 1.29%. Equities research analysts expect that MarketWise, Inc. will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketWise Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from MarketWise’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketWise’s payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut MarketWise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MarketWise from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Institutional Trading of MarketWise

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTW. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in MarketWise by 300.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 121,661 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 91,282 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of MarketWise during the third quarter worth about $191,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MarketWise during the second quarter worth about $226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in MarketWise by 13.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,627 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in MarketWise by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,631 shares of the newsletter publisher’s stock worth $2,293,000 after purchasing an additional 9,961 shares in the last quarter. 23.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MarketWise

MarketWise, Inc operates a content and technology multi-brand platform for self-directed investors in the United States and Internationally. Its platform includes subscription businesses that provides financial research, software, education, and tools to navigate the financial markets. The company offers various investment strategies, such as value investing, income, growth, commodities, cryptocurrencies, venture, crowdfunded investing, biotechnology, mutual funds, options, and trading; investment research product portfolio through a range of media, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile; and financial newsletters.