Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.57.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ZD shares. Wedbush raised their price objective on Ziff Davis from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ziff Davis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ziff Davis from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ziff Davis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Ziff Davis from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Activity at Ziff Davis

In other news, EVP Jeremy Rossen sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.43, for a total transaction of $288,967.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,131.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ziff Davis

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Ziff Davis by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 46,171 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 17,379 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ziff Davis in the third quarter worth $893,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ziff Davis by 232.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,443,000 after buying an additional 37,800 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Ziff Davis by 18.6% during the third quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 5,909 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Ziff Davis by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 996 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ziff Davis Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ZD opened at $55.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.76. Ziff Davis has a one year low of $49.50 and a one year high of $75.58. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 67.55 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.16 and a 200-day moving average of $63.14.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The technology company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $389.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.71 million. Ziff Davis had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 3.04%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ziff Davis will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.