BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• BlackBerry Limited has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with three holding and three buying ratings among the six firms covering the stock.
• The average 12-month price target for BlackBerry has been set at $4.60, following recent upgrades from various analysts.
• Despite reporting a 15.5% decline in revenue year-over-year, BlackBerry's latest quarterly earnings exceeded analyst estimates, showing $0.02 EPS compared to expected losses.

BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $4.60.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on BlackBerry from $4.25 to $4.60 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on BlackBerry from $3.75 to $4.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on BlackBerry from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. CIBC reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackBerry in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BlackBerry from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th.

BlackBerry Price Performance

BB stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3.75. 8,482,378 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,884,949. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.42 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's 50 day moving average is $4.14 and its 200 day moving average is $4.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. BlackBerry has a 12-month low of $2.01 and a 12-month high of $6.24.

BlackBerry (NYSE:BB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.03. BlackBerry had a positive return on equity of 2.29% and a negative net margin of 6.44%. The firm had revenue of $121.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that BlackBerry will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BlackBerry

In other BlackBerry news, CEO John Joseph Giamatteo sold 26,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.32, for a total transaction of $116,631.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 530,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,290,183.20. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Philip S. Kurtz sold 16,217 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.25, for a total transaction of $85,139.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 57,503 shares in the company, valued at $301,890.75. This represents a 22.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,417 shares of company stock valued at $267,524 in the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackBerry

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackBerry in the fourth quarter worth $544,000. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackBerry during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of BlackBerry during the 4th quarter worth about $309,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of BlackBerry by 261.7% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 425,129 shares of the company's stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 307,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackBerry by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 192,824 shares of the company's stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 92,738 shares during the period. 54.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry Limited provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Cybersecurity, IoT, and Licensing and Other. The company offers CylanceENDPOINT, an integrated endpoint security solution; CylanceGUARD, a managed detection and response solution; CylanceEDGE, an AI-powered continuous authentication zero trust network access solution; CylanceINTELLIGENCE, a contextual cyber threat intelligence service; BlackBerry Dynamics offers a development platform and secure container for mobile applications; BlackBerry Workspaces a secure Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) solution; BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Enterprise, an enterprise-grade secure instant messaging solution for messaging, voice and video; BlackBerry SecuSUITE is a certified, multi-OS voice and text messaging solution; BlackBerry AtHoc, a secure networked critical event management solution; and BlackBerry unified endpoint management (UEM) solutions.