Zuora (NYSE:ZUO) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Zuora, Inc. (NYSE:ZUO) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Lake Street Capital raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $13.00. The stock had previously closed at $9.86, but opened at $10.80. Lake Street Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Zuora shares last traded at $10.44, with a volume of 452,481 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Zuora from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Zuora in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Zuora from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Zuora from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Tien Tzuo sold 81,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.87, for a total transaction of $724,102.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,342.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Zuora news, CEO Tien Tzuo sold 81,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.87, for a total value of $724,102.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,342.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Cohen sold 11,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.61, for a total value of $102,149.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 137,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,301.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 481,854 shares of company stock valued at $4,393,048 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zuora

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Zuora by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 27,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Zuora by 6.2% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 29,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Zuora by 5.4% during the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 37,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Zuora by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 47,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Zuora by 18.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 2,851 shares during the period. 83.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zuora Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -20.77 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 2.43.

Zuora (NYSE:ZUO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $110.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.80 million. Zuora had a negative return on equity of 31.10% and a negative net margin of 14.28%. Sell-side analysts predict that Zuora, Inc. will post -0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Zuora

Zuora, Inc provides a monetization suite for modern businesses to help companies launch and scale new services and operate dynamic customer-centric business models. The company offers Zuora Billing that allows customers to deploy various pricing and packaging strategies to monetize their recurring revenue streams, bill customers, calculate prorations when subscriptions change, and automate billing and payment operations; Zuora Revenue, a revenue recognition and automation solution that accounting teams use to manage their complex revenue streams; Zuora Payments to provide payment orchestration services for companies looking to operate globally; and Zephr, a digital subscriber experience platform that helps companies orchestrate dynamic experiences that increase conversion, reduce churn, and nurture ongoing subscriber relationships.