JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) to “Overweight”

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, FinViz reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 41.36% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ZD. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ziff Davis from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ziff Davis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on 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 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. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Ziff Davis from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ziff Davis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.57.

Ziff Davis Stock Performance

Shares of ZD opened at $49.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 60.39 and a beta of 1.24. Ziff Davis has a 12 month low of $49.50 and a 12 month high of $75.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.48.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The technology company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $400.71 million. Equities research analysts predict that Ziff Davis will post 6.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeremy Rossen sold 4,162 shares of Ziff Davis stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,131.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ziff Davis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ZD. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,693,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,771,000 after purchasing an additional 136,220 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 11.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,575,994 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,375,000 after acquiring an additional 159,839 shares during the last quarter. CDAM UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Ziff Davis by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 1,181,995 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $79,418,000 after purchasing an additional 247,375 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Ziff Davis by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 681,835 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,426,000 after purchasing an additional 26,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ziff Davis by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 575,688 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,501 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.