Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 172,000 Shares of Smartsheet Inc (NYSE:SMAR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Smartsheet Inc (NYSE:SMAR) by 92.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 358,100 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 172,000 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.26% of Smartsheet worth $15,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SMAR. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smartsheet during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Smartsheet in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Smartsheet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Smartsheet during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Smartsheet by 37.5% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 894 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Smartsheet

In related news, CEO Mark Patrick Mader sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $1,035,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 588,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,486,096.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 4,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.42, for a total value of $189,762.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,773.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Patrick Mader sold 20,000 shares of Smartsheet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $1,035,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 588,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,486,096.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,429 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,525. 4.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Smartsheet from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Smartsheet from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Smartsheet from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Smartsheet from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.06.

Smartsheet Stock Performance

Shares of Smartsheet stock opened at $52.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of -84.00 and a beta of 0.74. Smartsheet Inc has a 52-week low of $35.52 and a 52-week high of $54.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.25.

Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.15. Smartsheet had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a negative return on equity of 4.29%. The business had revenue of $276.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Smartsheet Inc will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

Smartsheet announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Smartsheet

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.