Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $81.17.

ZD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ziff Davis from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ziff Davis from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush raised their target price on Ziff Davis from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Ziff Davis in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Ziff Davis from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

Ziff Davis Stock Performance

NASDAQ ZD opened at $50.23 on Friday. Ziff Davis has a twelve month low of $50.16 and a twelve month high of $77.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.26 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $63.35 and a 200 day moving average of $64.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Insider Transactions at Ziff Davis

In related news, EVP Jeremy Rossen sold 4,162 shares of Ziff Davis stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.43, for a total value of $288,967.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,261 shares in the company, valued at $504,131.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZD. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Ziff Davis by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,693,573 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $398,892,000 after buying an additional 115,973 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ziff Davis by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,496,027 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $307,887,000 after purchasing an additional 65,736 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,796,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $120,686,000 after buying an additional 220,199 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 136,220 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ziff Davis by 2.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,662,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,491,000 after buying an additional 32,451 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.