Virtue Capital Increases Stake in Datadog by 25.8%

Virtue Capital Management LLC has increased its holdings in Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG) by 25.8% during the second quarter of 2023. The institutional investor reported ownership of 3,066 shares after acquiring an additional 628 shares, bringing the total value of its investment to approximately $412,000, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other significant investors have also adjusted their positions in Datadog. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake by a remarkable 259.7% in the first quarter, now holding 8,658,340 shares valued at $858,994,000 after purchasing an additional 6,250,942 shares. Similarly, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC established a new position worth approximately $177,050,000 in the second quarter.

Analysts Adjust Price Targets

Several equity analysts have recently revised their price targets for Datadog shares. On August 7, 2023, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target from $160.00 to $185.00, assigning a “buy” rating. Similarly, Barclays raised its target from $170.00 to $215.00, also giving the stock an “overweight” rating. Other notable adjustments include Rosenblatt Securities, which boosted its price objective from $170.00 to $200.00, and Needham & Company LLC, which raised its target from $175.00 to $220.00.

Overall, 31 analysts have rated the stock as a buy, five have issued a hold rating, and one has assigned a sell rating. According to MarketBeat.com, Datadog currently holds an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.38.

Insider Transactions and Company Performance

In related news, CEO Olivier Pomel sold 100,754 shares on November 17, 2023, at an average price of $181.18, totaling approximately $18.25 million. This sale reduced his ownership to 533,358 shares, valued at about $96.63 million. Similarly, Alexis Le-Quoc, Chief Technology Officer, sold 43,224 shares on November 24, 2023, for a total of $6.85 million, decreasing his holdings to 352,437 shares.

During the last quarter, corporate insiders sold a total of 1,419,003 shares valued at $243,371,866. Insiders currently own 8.70% of the company’s stock, as reported in filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

As of the latest trading session, Datadog shares opened at $160.28. Over the past year, the stock has experienced a low of $81.63 and a high of $201.69. The company boasts a market capitalization of $56.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 517.02, and a price-to-earnings growth ratio of 35.96.

In its latest earnings report, Datadog announced earnings per share of $0.55 for the quarter ending November 6, 2023, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $0.45. The company reported revenue of $885.65 million, exceeding the consensus estimate of $852.77 million. Datadog’s revenue grew by 28.4% year-over-year, while its return on equity stood at 4.14%.

Looking ahead, Datadog has provided guidance for fiscal year 2025, projecting earnings per share between $2.000 and $2.020, with fourth-quarter guidance of $0.54 to $0.56 per share. Analysts anticipate earnings per share of $0.34 for the current fiscal year.

Datadog, Inc. operates an observability and security platform for cloud applications, offering a range of services including infrastructure monitoring, log management, and application security management, among others. The company’s diverse portfolio positions it favorably in the competitive cloud services market.