Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $59.75

Shares of Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.75.

ZD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Ziff Davis in a research report on Friday, September 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ziff Davis from $48.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ziff Davis from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ziff Davis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Ziff Davis in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

Ziff Davis Price Performance

Shares of ZD stock opened at $55.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.55. Ziff Davis has a one year low of $22.45 and a one year high of $60.48.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $286.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.10 million. Ziff Davis had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 48.57%.Ziff Davis’s quarterly revenue was down 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ziff Davis will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director W. Brian Kretzmer sold 2,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.31, for a total value of $138,994.03. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,200. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Rossen sold 3,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.93, for a total transaction of $209,777.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,619.99. This represents a 26.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,732 shares of company stock worth $425,436 over the last three months. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ziff Davis

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZD. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ziff Davis in the second quarter valued at about $187,893,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Ziff Davis during the second quarter worth about $94,314,000. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its stake in Ziff Davis by 130.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,573,414 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Ziff Davis by 689.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 974,591 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,894,000 after acquiring an additional 851,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Ziff Davis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,022,000. 99.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ziff Davis Company Profile

Ziff Davis, Inc (NASDAQ:ZD) is a digital media and technology company that creates content, services and online experiences for consumers and businesses. Its portfolio spans technology, gaming and entertainment, shopping, health and wellness, and cybersecurity and marketing technology.

The company operates a range of digital brands and platforms, including IGN, PCMag, Mashable, Lifehacker, RetailMeNot, Ookla, Spiceworks and Humble Bundle. Its offerings include editorial content and reviews, consumer purchase guidance, gaming and entertainment coverage, internet-performance testing, software and data services, and business-to-business marketing solutions.

Ziff Davis traces its origins to the magazine publisher founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff and Bernard G.