BuzzFeed (NASDAQ:BZFD) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Sell"

Key Points

• BuzzFeed's rating has been downgraded from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen, while Craig Hallum has maintained a "strong-buy" rating for the company.
• The stock opened at $1.97, with a market cap of $72.97 million, and has seen a fifty-two week low of $1.61.
• BuzzFeed reported a loss of ($0.28) earnings per share for the latest quarter, missing estimates, but had higher revenue of $46.39 million compared to expectations.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of BuzzFeed (NASDAQ:BZFD - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Separately, Craig Hallum raised BuzzFeed to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th.

BuzzFeed Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BZFD remained flat at $1.97 during midday trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 264,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,965. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.97 million, a P/E ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 3.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. BuzzFeed has a 52 week low of $1.61 and a 52 week high of $5.68.

BuzzFeed (NASDAQ:BZFD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.05). BuzzFeed had a negative return on equity of 28.11% and a net margin of 4.75%. The company had revenue of $46.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.43 million.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Janet L. Rolle sold 24,474 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.11, for a total transaction of $51,640.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 122,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at $257,890.53. This trade represents a 16.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder John S. Johnson III sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.45, for a total value of $122,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,041,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,550,927.75. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 20.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BuzzFeed

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in BuzzFeed by 359.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 792,318 shares of the company's stock worth $2,115,000 after acquiring an additional 619,892 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of BuzzFeed by 1,461.0% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 251,973 shares of the company's stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 235,831 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of BuzzFeed during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in BuzzFeed by 1,006.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 210,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 191,841 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in BuzzFeed during the fourth quarter valued at $391,000. Institutional investors own 37.64% of the company's stock.

About BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed, Inc, a digital media company, distributes content across owned and operated, as well as third-party platforms. The company offers BuzzFeed, a go-to authority for entertainment, pop culture, and Internet with articles, lists, quizzes, videos, and original series; BuzzFeed News, a pocket friendly newsroom; Tasty, a platform for food content; HuffPost, media platform for news, politics, opinion, entertainment, features, and lifestyle content.