Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Weibo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $9.30 to $7.80 in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Weibo in a report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $9.80 price target on shares of Weibo in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Weibo in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weibo currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.80.

Weibo Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WB opened at $6.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.59, a current ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Weibo has a 52-week low of $6.47 and a 52-week high of $12.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.91.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The information services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Weibo had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The company had revenue of $453.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.45 million. Equities analysts predict that Weibo will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Weibo by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 584,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 165,936 shares in the last quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Weibo by 21.0% in the first quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,437,357 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,327,000 after acquiring an additional 422,294 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Weibo by 41.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,363,373 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,158,000 after acquiring an additional 697,778 shares in the last quarter. XY Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Weibo by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. XY Capital Ltd now owns 198,356 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 96,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Weibo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,945,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.77% of the company’s stock.

Weibo Company Profile

Weibo Corporation (NASDAQ: WB) operates a social media platform in China that enables users to create, share and discover short-form content. Often described as a microblogging service, Weibo supports public posts, multimedia content, hashtags, trending topics, comments, direct messaging and interactions among users, public figures, media organizations and businesses.

The company generates revenue primarily through advertising and marketing services, including promoted content, display advertising and advertising products designed to help brands reach targeted audiences.