Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 117,612 Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) by 45.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 377,724 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,612 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Honest were worth $2,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Honest by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 163,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its position in shares of Honest by 7.1% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 80,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,330 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Honest by 3.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 225,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 7,379 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Honest during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Honest during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Honest

In other Honest news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $99,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 431,844 shares in the company, valued at $2,150,583.12. This trade represents a 4.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 37,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.87, for a total value of $182,532.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 307,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,498,693.80. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Honest Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ HNST opened at $5.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.78 and a 200-day moving average of $5.52. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.40 and a 1-year high of $8.97. The firm has a market cap of $546.73 million, a PE ratio of -125.50 and a beta of 2.45.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.01. Honest had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $99.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.46 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut shares of Honest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Northland Securities upped their target price on shares of Honest from $7.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Honest presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.42.

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.