Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Shares Up 3.7%

Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB) was up 3.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.09 and last traded at $8.06. Approximately 222,995 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 2,287,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC decreased their price objective on Weibo from $13.60 to $9.80 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Weibo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.60 target price on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group raised shares of Weibo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $12.90 to $11.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Weibo from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $19.50 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.98.

Weibo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.03 and a 200-day moving average of $10.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Weibo Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weibo

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WB. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Weibo by 149.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,059,287 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $124,002,000 after buying an additional 3,029,114 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Weibo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Weibo by 199.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,075,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,675,000 after buying an additional 2,047,135 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Weibo by 183.5% during the 1st quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,834,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $56,865,000 after buying an additional 1,834,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Weibo by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,825,571 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $74,740,000 after buying an additional 864,120 shares in the last quarter. 68.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.