Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys 34,723 Shares of Smartsheet Inc (NYSE:SMAR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Smartsheet Inc (NYSE:SMAR) by 71.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,060 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,723 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.06% of Smartsheet worth $4,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in Smartsheet during the third quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Anson Funds Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Smartsheet in the third quarter worth $554,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Smartsheet during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,551,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Smartsheet during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,384,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Smartsheet in the 3rd quarter worth $264,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jolene Lau Marshall sold 3,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total transaction of $197,726.27. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,374.46. This represents a 26.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Patrick Mader sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 588,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,486,096.36. This represents a 3.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,623 shares of company stock valued at $2,067,441 over the last three months. 4.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SMAR. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Smartsheet from $50.00 to $56.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Smartsheet from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Smartsheet in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $56.50 target price (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Smartsheet in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.82.

Smartsheet Price Performance

Shares of SMAR stock opened at $56.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of -933.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 82.27 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.13. Smartsheet Inc has a 1 year low of $35.52 and a 1 year high of $56.55.

Smartsheet declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.