NerdWallet (NASDAQ:NRDS) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

NerdWallet (NASDAQ:NRDS) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $9.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $14.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 9.37% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price target on NerdWallet from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research downgraded NerdWallet from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on NerdWallet from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NerdWallet has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.33.

NerdWallet Stock Performance

NerdWallet stock opened at $9.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $663.22 million, a P/E ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 1.44. NerdWallet has a 52 week low of $7.55 and a 52 week high of $16.24.

NerdWallet (NASDAQ:NRDS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $225.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.37 million. NerdWallet had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 5.82%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that NerdWallet will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NerdWallet declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Nicholas Tatum sold 10,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.45, for a total transaction of $116,228.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,202 shares in the company, valued at $540,462.90. This represents a 17.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 46.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NerdWallet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of NerdWallet by 37.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NerdWallet by 9.3% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of NerdWallet by 12.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in NerdWallet by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 184,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,000 after acquiring an additional 2,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in NerdWallet by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,447 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.81% of the company’s stock.

NerdWallet Company Profile

NerdWallet (NASDAQ: NRDS) is a personal finance company that offers independent guidance and comparison tools to help consumers make informed financial decisions. Through its website and mobile application, NerdWallet provides a wide range of content, including articles, calculators and reviews covering credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, banking products, investing, insurance and taxes. The platform aggregates partner offers to enable side-by-side comparisons, while editorially maintaining objectivity to support users in identifying the products that best suit their individual needs.

Founded in 2009 by Tim Chen and Jacob Gibson, NerdWallet is headquartered in San Francisco and serves consumers primarily in the United States, with additional localized offerings in Canada and the United Kingdom.