Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

WB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Nomura Securities upgraded Weibo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Weibo from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Weibo from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Weibo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.23.

Weibo Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:WB opened at $9.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.46. Weibo has a fifty-two week low of $7.03 and a fifty-two week high of $12.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 2.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.23.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The information services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $437.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $437.97 million. Weibo had a net margin of 18.52% and a return on equity of 11.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Weibo will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Weibo by 204.5% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,433,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,678,000 after buying an additional 1,634,230 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Weibo in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,435,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Weibo by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 3,803,752 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,213,000 after purchasing an additional 564,068 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Weibo by 64.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,309,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,056,000 after purchasing an additional 511,248 shares during the period. Finally, Polunin Capital Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Weibo in the third quarter worth approximately $5,064,000. 68.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Weibo

Weibo Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as a social media platform for people to create, discover, and distribute 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.