The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $740,000 Position in Ziff Davis, Inc. $ZD

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 14,121 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ziff Davis by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,526,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,963,000 after purchasing an additional 92,496 shares in the last quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 130.0% in the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 2,783,366 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,414 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ziff Davis by 689.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 974,591 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,894,000 after buying an additional 851,163 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Ziff Davis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 907,721 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,906,000 after buying an additional 135,021 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ziff Davis by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 860,582 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,249,000 after buying an additional 82,761 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ziff Davis from $30.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ziff Davis from $48.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ziff Davis from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ziff Davis from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Ziff Davis in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.62.

Insider Activity at Ziff Davis

In other news, CAO Lori A. Tansley sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.76, for a total value of $76,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 767 shares in the company, valued at $42,000.92. This represents a 64.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director W. Brian Kretzmer sold 2,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.31, for a total transaction of $138,994.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,200. This represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,807 shares of company stock worth $1,319,424 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Ziff Davis Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Ziff Davis stock opened at $55.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Ziff Davis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.45 and a twelve month high of $58.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.39.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. Ziff Davis had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 48.57%.The firm had revenue of $286.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 18.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Ziff Davis Company Profile

Ziff Davis, Inc is a digital media and internet company that operates a diverse portfolio of online brands, subscription-based services and performance marketing platforms. The company specializes in technology publishing and digital marketing solutions, offering content, reviews and insights tailored to consumer and enterprise audiences. Ziff Davis’s flagship media properties include PCMag, which provides expert reviews and comparisons of consumer electronics and software, as well as IGN, a leading destination for gaming news, reviews and entertainment coverage.

Founded in 1927 by William B.