Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Shares Gap Down to $8.94

Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.94, but opened at $8.30. Weibo shares last traded at $8.29, with a volume of 338,987 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on WB shares. HSBC lowered their price target on Weibo from $13.60 to $9.80 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.60 price target on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com cut 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 company from $12.90 to $11.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut Weibo from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.98.

Weibo Stock Down 9.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.84, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.11 and a 200 day moving average of $10.24.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The information services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.14). Weibo had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The business had revenue of $463.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $452.30 million. Research analysts anticipate that Weibo Co. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weibo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WB. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Weibo by 137.7% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 36,973 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 21,420 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Weibo by 18.5% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,899 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Weibo by 88.9% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Weibo by 124.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,512 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Weibo by 6.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,898,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $71,044,000 after purchasing an additional 171,508 shares in 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.