Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB) gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $12.00. The stock had previously closed at $9.91, but opened at $10.46. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Weibo shares last traded at $10.77, with a volume of 1,627,629 shares traded.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WB. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Weibo from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Nomura Securities upgraded shares of Weibo to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weibo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Weibo by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 134,393 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weibo by 21.5% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,661 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 9,143 shares in the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Weibo in the second quarter valued at about $82,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Weibo during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Weibo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $110,000. 68.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weibo Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.36.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The information services provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.10. Weibo had a net margin of 18.52% and a return on equity of 11.01%. The firm had revenue of $437.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Weibo Co. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Weibo Company Profile

Weibo Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as a social media platform for people to create, distribute, and discover content in the People's Republic of China. It operates in two segments, Advertising and Marketing Services; and Value-Added Services. The company offers discovery products to help users discover content on its platform; self-expression products that enable its users to express themselves on its platform; and social products to promote social interaction between users on its platform.