Morgan Stanley Downgrades Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) to Underweight

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $10.00 target price on the information services provider's stock, down from their prior target price of $11.00. Morgan Stanley's price target indicates a potential upside of 3.52% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $10.60 price objective on shares of Weibo in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upgraded Weibo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $12.90 to $11.50 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered Weibo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Weibo from $13.60 to $9.80 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weibo currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.65.

Weibo Trading Down 3.8 %

WB traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,638,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,227,059. Weibo has a 52-week low of $7.58 and a 52-week high of $17.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The information services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.14). Weibo had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $463.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $452.30 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Weibo will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Weibo by 331.3% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 309,136 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 237,453 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Weibo by 1,360.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,268,124 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,442,000 after buying an additional 2,112,773 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Weibo by 38.2% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 32,887 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 9,093 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its position in shares of Weibo by 6.8% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 47,259 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weibo in the third quarter worth about $1,181,000. 68.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Weibo

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.