Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

WB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Weibo from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Weibo from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Nomura Securities upgraded shares of Weibo to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.23.

Weibo Stock Performance

WB stock opened at $10.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Weibo has a 12-month low of $7.03 and a 12-month high of $13.54.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The information services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.10. Weibo had a net margin of 18.52% and a return on equity of 11.01%. The company had revenue of $437.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Weibo will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Weibo

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WB. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Weibo by 199.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,075,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,675,000 after buying an additional 2,047,135 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in Weibo by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 48,602 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 15,715 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Weibo by 92.7% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 44,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 21,422 shares during the last quarter. XY Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Weibo during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Weibo by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 119,025 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 46,898 shares during 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.