A number of stock research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM) during the last seven days:

  • Ancestry.com had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Citigroup. They now have a $35.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “Per our 10/21 Q3 Earnings Preview, we have long viewed ACOM as an attractive asset, with the key points of our Investment thesis being: 1) Ancestry.com is the leading Online Family History resource site; 2) Ancestry.com faces a significantly under-penetrated market opportunity; 3) ACOM has developed relatively significant barriers to entry; 4) Ancestry.com enjoys the benefits of a subscription-based business model; & 5) ACOM has an increasingly global presence.”
  • Ancestry.com had its price target lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase to $9.00. They wrote, “AVID issued a 3Q profit warning, citing poor sales execution in the U.S. and the restructuring action taken in July. The July cutbacks, which we viewed as essential, may have impacted retained businesses, raising a question mark over execution. … AVID believes the decline in revenue and profits for 3Q was largely due to sales execution in the Americas region, and transitional issues relating to the strategic cutbacks announced in July. This suggests that cutbacks were too deep or made too quickly, though we view these cutbacks (and more) as essential.”
  • Ancestry.com had its price target lowered by analysts at Jefferies Group to $32.00. They wrote, “This morning Ancestry.com confirmed that it was being bought out by Permira Advisers Fund, a European based private equity firm, for $32.00 per share. We are lowering our PT to $32 from $34. … The price being offered is $32 per share of cash, a 42% premium to the $22.63 close price on June 5, 2012, when the press first reported the news. The company reports that it will be a $1.6 billion total transaction value. ACOM closed at $29.18 (10-19-12) before the announcement of this transaction.”
  • Ancestry.com was downgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating.
  • Ancestry.com was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They wrote, “On Oct 22nd, ACOM and European private equity firm, Permira Funds, announced that a group of existing shareholders and Permira had agreed to acquire Ancestry.com for $32.00 per share in cash for $1.6B total. Key existing shareholders including ACOM’s CEO Tim Sullivan & CFO Howard Hochhauser are planning to maintain a majority of their equity stakes in the company as part of the transaction, and Spectrum Equity will also remain an investor in the company. The transaction is expected to close in early 2013. The all-cash transaction represents a 41% premium over ACOM’s closing price on 6/5/12, the last trading day prior to press reports that ACOM had retained a financial advisor in connection with a possible sale. The price also represents a 10% premium over the last traded price. Given that a sales process appears to have been ongoing for at least 4 months, we wouldn’t anticipate a new bidder emerging at this point. And, at or around $32, we view ACOM’s risk/reward as fairly balanced. Note that ACOM is up a sharp 37% YTD.”
  • Ancestry.com was downgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They wrote, “With the company reaching a tentative agreement to be acquired by Permira for $32 per share (expected to close in early 2013), and given a lack of relative upside, we are removing Ancestry from our Buy List. Since being added to the Buy List on December 14, 2011, shares are up 48% versus the Nasdaq up 17.8%. Over the past 12 months, shares have risen 24.5% versus the Nasdaq up 10.8%. We consider ACOM’s strategic appeal to be in its strong free cash flow, market leading position, and international expansion opportunities.”
  • Ancestry.com was downgraded by analysts at Piper Jaffray from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating.

Shares of Ancestry.com Inc opened at 31.64 on Friday. Ancestry.com Inc has a one year low of $20.75 and a one year high of $33.80. The company has a market cap of $1.361 billion and a P/E ratio of 20.69.

Ancestry.com Inc. (Ancestry) is an online family history resource. Its subscribers use its Web-based services and content collection to research their family histories, build their family trees, collaborate with other subscribers, upload their own records and publish and share their stories.