Shares of Paysafe jumped on Wednesday after the payments company said executives and board members bought the stock.
Paysafe’s (ticker: PSFE) CEO Philip McHugh bought approximately 290,000 shares of common stock worth $1 million on the open market on Dec. 3, the company said in a news release. Other executives and independent board members purchased 447,000 shares totaling approximately $1.8 million between Nov. 12 and Dec. 3, it said. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the purchases.
The stock jumped roughly 7% to $3.9 on Wednesday. As of the market close on Tuesday, Paysafe shares had lost 75.9% year to date.
On Nov. 11, the U.K.-based online payments company reported sales of $354 million for the third quarter, below analysts’ forecasts of $370.6 million. The company attributed the drop to the “exit of certain clients in the direct marketing vertical within the Integrated Processing segment.” Paysafe operates in three segments: integrated processing, digital wallets, and eCash solutions.
The company also reduced its forecast for revenue for the full year. It expects revenue of $1.47 billion to $1.48 billion, down from a previous guidance call of $1.53 billion to $1.55 billion. Paysafe said it revised its guidance due to gambling regulations and softness in European markets.
Several analysts cut their price targets on the stock following the earnings news.
Cowen analyst George Mihalos downgraded Paysafe to Market Perform from Outperform and reduced his target to $7 from $14.Susquehanna analyst James Friedman reduced the firm’s price target to $13 from $17 while maintaining a positive rating.Credit Suisse analyst Timothy Chiodo lowered his call to $4 from $9 and reiterated a Neutral rating on the stock.