Great Lakes Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,312 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,585 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ziff Davis were worth $2,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 100,954.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,267,221 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,967 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 170.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 259,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,115,000 after purchasing an additional 163,708 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ziff Davis in the 3rd quarter worth $7,210,000. Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Ziff Davis in the 4th quarter worth $7,946,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ziff Davis in the 4th quarter worth $5,780,000. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ziff Davis Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of Ziff Davis stock opened at $40.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.11 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.54 and a 200 day moving average of $50.95. Ziff Davis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.62 and a fifty-two week high of $64.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ziff Davis

In related news, Director Sarah Ann Fay acquired 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.00 per share, with a total value of $49,998.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $727,545. This trade represents a 7.38 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bret Richter acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $98,025.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,652.19. The trade was a 18.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 5,028 shares of company stock valued at $198,024 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ZD shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ziff Davis from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ziff Davis from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ziff Davis from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ziff Davis currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.67.

About Ziff Davis

Ziff Davis, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media and internet company in the United States and internationally. The company offers PCMag, an online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news, buying guides, and research papers; Mashable for publishing technology and culture content; Spiceworks Ziff Davis provides digital content of IT products and services; retailMeNot, a savings destination platform; Offers.com, a coupon and deals website; and event-based properties, including BlackFriday.com, TheBlackFriday.com, BestBlackFriday.com, and DealsofAmerica.com.