Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) Shares Up 3.8%

Hello Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MOMO)’s share price traded up 3.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $5.50 and last traded at $5.50. 814,245 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 2,170,091 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Hello Group from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hello Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.25.

Hello Group Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $6.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a current ratio of 3.74.

Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The information services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $422.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.28 million. Hello Group had a return on equity of 17.23% and a net margin of 16.27%. As a group, analysts expect that Hello Group Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hello Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a yield of 8.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hello Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Hello Group by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,989,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,152 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Hello Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,032,288 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $70,025,000 after acquiring an additional 159,342 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Hello Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,839,157 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,721,000 after acquiring an additional 199,128 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hello Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,787,482 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,452,000 after acquiring an additional 259,934 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hello Group by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,344,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.96% of the company’s stock.

About Hello Group

Hello Group Inc provides mobile-based social and entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. The company offers Momo, a mobile application that connects people and facilitates social interactions based on location, interests, and various online recreational activities including, live talent shows, short videos, social games, as well as other video- and audio-based interactive experiences, such as online parties, mobile karaoke and user participated reality shows; Tantan, a social and dating application; and other applications under the Hertz, Soulchill, Duidui, and Tietie names.