Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Trading Up 3.7%

Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB)’s share price rose 3.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $8.09 and last traded at $8.06. Approximately 222,995 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 2,287,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.60 price target on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upgraded Weibo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $12.90 to $11.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Weibo from $13.60 to $9.80 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America lowered shares of Weibo from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $19.50 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Weibo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.98.

Weibo Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 5.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.01 and a 200 day moving average of $10.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The information services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.14). Weibo had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $463.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $452.30 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Weibo Co. will post 1.64 EPS for the current year.

Weibo Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weibo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Weibo by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,825,571 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $74,740,000 after purchasing an additional 864,120 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weibo by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,290,626 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,932,000 after purchasing an additional 179,482 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Weibo by 149.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,059,287 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $124,002,000 after buying an additional 3,029,114 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Weibo by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,716,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $74,555,000 after buying an additional 340,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its stake in Weibo by 14.4% during the third quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 3,188,994 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,990,000 after buying an additional 401,004 shares during the last quarter. 68.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.