Shutterstock price target lowered to $45 from $55 at Needham

Needham analyst Bernie McTernan lowered the firm’s price target on Shutterstock (SSTK) to $45 from $55 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the company and Getty Images (GETY) entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine in a merger of equals transaction. The two companies are stronger together with a larger war chest of content plus significant cost synergies, and once the deal closes, the focus should be the significant free cash flow generation of NewCo and paying down debt, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm adds however that the wide risk reward remains over the near-term as the NewCo multiple could be overly impacted by the trajectory of Shutterstock’s organic content declines.