Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) Stock

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Zebra Technologies to $380 from $360, implying 15.33% upside, but maintained an Equal Weight rating. Analysts’ consensus is Moderate Buy with a $387.50 target.
• Zebra beat quarterly estimates, with revenue up 22.3% year over year to $1.61 billion and EPS of $4.95; the company also raised its full-year growth outlook.
• Despite strong results, concerns that higher memory costs could pressure 2027 margins weighed on investor sentiment and the stock.

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $360.00 to $380.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.33% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Zebra Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Zebra Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Zebra Technologies in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Zebra Technologies from $305.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Zebra Technologies from $410.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zebra Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.50.

Zebra Technologies Price Performance

Zebra Technologies stock opened at $329.50 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $366.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 1.61. Zebra Technologies has a one year low of $199.05 and a one year high of $392.78.

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.89 by $0.06. Zebra Technologies had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Zebra Technologies will post 18.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Zebra Technologies news, insider Michael Cho sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.20, for a total value of $1,313,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,784. This trade represents a 40.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Linda Connly sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.68, for a total transaction of $188,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,400,437.44. The trade was a 11.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zebra Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zebra Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,012,000. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Zebra Technologies by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 3,666 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. StoneX Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Zebra Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $339,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Zebra Technologies by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Zebra Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $428,000. 91.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Zebra Technologies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Zebra Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue rose 22.3% year over year to $1.614 billion, beating estimates of $1.57 billion. Adjusted earnings of $4.95 per share also topped the $4.89 consensus. Zebra cited broad-based sales growth, including demand for Connected Frontline solutions and automation, and raised its full-year growth outlook. Zebra Technologies Q3 results
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the record quarter and improved outlook, investors reacted to the risk that higher memory costs will weigh on profit margins in 2027. That concern overshadowed the earnings and sales beats and contributed to the stock’s decline. Record quarter and margin warning Higher memory-cost outlook

About Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies Corp. NASDAQ: ZBRA develops technologies that help businesses identify, track and manage assets, inventory and operational processes. Its solutions are used by organizations in retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare, government and other industries to improve visibility and productivity across their operations.

The company's portfolio includes barcode and label printers, barcode scanners, mobile computers, radio-frequency identification (RFID) readers and tags, machine-vision systems, fixed industrial scanners and related software.

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