Wall Street Zen Upgrades Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) to "Buy"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Weibo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, indicating increased investor confidence in the company's future performance.
• Citigroup raised their price target for Weibo from $12.00 to $14.00, aligning with a growing consensus of a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts.
• Weibo reported earnings of $0.54 per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding expectations, which helps boost the outlook for the company moving forward.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Citigroup increased their price objective on Weibo from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $14.00.

Weibo Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ WB opened at $12.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.08. Weibo has a 12 month low of $7.10 and a 12 month high of $12.92. The company's 50-day moving average price is $11.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.84. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 3.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The information services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $444.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $438.84 million. Weibo had a net margin of 21.10% and a return on equity of 12.65%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Weibo will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weibo

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WB. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Weibo during the second quarter valued at $61,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Weibo by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,653 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Weibo during the 1st quarter valued at about $117,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Weibo in the second quarter valued at about $136,000. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Weibo in the first quarter worth about $147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.77% of the company's stock.

About Weibo

Weibo Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as a social media platform for people to create, discover, and distribute 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.

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