Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $48.99, but opened at $51.95. Ziff Davis shares last traded at $56.24, with a volume of 88,664 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ziff Davis in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ziff Davis from $52.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ziff Davis from $58.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.50.

Ziff Davis Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The technology company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.08). Ziff Davis had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm had revenue of $320.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Ziff Davis’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ziff Davis, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 0.3% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,239,654 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $204,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10,303 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 14.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,057,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,255,000 after acquiring an additional 257,056 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 11.0% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 501,313 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,394,000 after acquiring an additional 49,510 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 21.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 360,030 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,820,000 after acquiring an additional 63,458 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 453.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 278,564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,204,000 after acquiring an additional 228,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

About Ziff Davis

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.