Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) PT Lowered to $70.00

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Wedbush from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential upside of 31.65% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Ziff Davis in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ziff Davis from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Ziff Davis from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ziff Davis from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ziff Davis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.13.

Ziff Davis Stock Performance

ZD opened at $53.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 43.94 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.98. Ziff Davis has a 1 year low of $49.50 and a 1 year high of $75.58.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The technology company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.02. Ziff Davis had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $389.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.71 million. Research analysts expect that Ziff Davis will post 6.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ziff Davis news, EVP Jeremy Rossen sold 4,162 shares of Ziff Davis stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.43, for a total value of $288,967.66. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,261 shares in the company, valued at $504,131.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ziff Davis

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZD. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ziff Davis during the fourth quarter worth $32,202,000. CDAM UK Ltd grew its position in Ziff Davis by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 1,181,995 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $79,418,000 after acquiring an additional 247,375 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Ziff Davis by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,575,994 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,375,000 after purchasing an additional 159,839 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Ziff Davis by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,693,227 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,771,000 after purchasing an additional 136,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 212.4% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 181,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,182,000 after purchasing an additional 123,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

Ziff Davis Company Profile

Ziff Davis, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media and internet company in the United States and internationally. The company offers PCMag, an online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news, buying guides, and research papers; Mashable for publishing technology and culture content; Spiceworks Ziff Davis provides digital content of IT products and services; retailMeNot, a savings destination platform; Offers.com, a coupon and deals website; and event-based properties, including BlackFriday.com, TheBlackFriday.com, BestBlackFriday.com, and DealsofAmerica.com.