Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.98.

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

Institutional Trading of Weibo

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WB. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Weibo by 26.0% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 352,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,421,000 after acquiring an additional 72,698 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Weibo by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,058 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 10,668 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Weibo by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 179,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Long Corridor Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Weibo by 175.6% in the 3rd quarter. Long Corridor Asset Management Ltd now owns 620,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,775,000 after buying an additional 395,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weibo by 139.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 97,347 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 56,700 shares during the period. 68.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Weibo Trading Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ:WB opened at $9.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Weibo has a 12-month low of $7.58 and a 12-month high of $17.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.75.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 19.47%. The business had revenue of $463.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $452.30 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Weibo will post 1.64 EPS for the current year.

Weibo Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th.

About Weibo

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.