Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.98.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.60 price objective on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Weibo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group raised Weibo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $12.90 to $11.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. HSBC cut their price target on Weibo from $13.60 to $9.80 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Weibo from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $19.50 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th.

Weibo Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:WB opened at $9.96 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.73. Weibo has a fifty-two week low of $7.58 and a fifty-two week high of $17.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The information services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $463.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $452.30 million. Weibo had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 10.77%. Sell-side analysts expect that Weibo will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weibo Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weibo

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Weibo by 7.6% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 11,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Weibo by 0.8% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 126,938 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weibo by 6.8% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 47,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Weibo by 2.1% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 158,145 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Weibo by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 61,627 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 3,338 shares during the last quarter. 68.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.