Westchester Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Smartsheet Inc (NYSE:SMAR)

Westchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Smartsheet Inc (NYSE:SMAR) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 447,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,772,000. Smartsheet comprises about 1.1% of Westchester Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Smartsheet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smartsheet in the third quarter worth $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smartsheet during the second quarter worth $25,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Smartsheet during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Smartsheet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Smartsheet

In related news, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 1,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $97,891.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 64,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,403,395. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jolene Lau Marshall sold 3,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.92, for a total transaction of $179,223.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,695 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,424.40. This represents a 14.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,194 shares of company stock valued at $2,248,098 over the last ninety days. 4.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on SMAR shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Smartsheet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $56.50 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Smartsheet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Smartsheet in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smartsheet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.82.

Smartsheet Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMAR opened at $55.95 on Friday. Smartsheet Inc has a 52-week low of $35.52 and a 52-week high of $56.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.02. The stock has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of -180.48 and a beta of 0.74.

Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $276.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.23 million. Smartsheet had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a negative return on equity of 4.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Smartsheet Inc will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Smartsheet declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Smartsheet Profile

Smartsheet, Inc engages in managing and automating collaborative work. Its platform provides solutions that eliminate the obstacles to capturing information, including a familiar and intuitive spreadsheet interface as well as easily customizable forms. The company was founded by W. Eric Browne, Maria Colacurcio, John D.