Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $8.51, but opened at $8.72. Weibo shares last traded at $8.91, with a volume of 705,063 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Weibo in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Weibo from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Weibo from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Weibo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Nomura Securities raised Weibo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.23.

Weibo Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.51. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.29 and a beta of 0.24.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The information services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $437.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.97 million. Weibo had a return on equity of 11.26% and a net margin of 21.30%. Weibo’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Weibo Co. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Weibo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deltec Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weibo in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $82,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Weibo during the 2nd quarter valued at $110,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Weibo during the 3rd quarter valued at $112,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Weibo in the 1st quarter valued at $123,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Weibo by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,261 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the period. 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.