Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Weibo (NASDAQ:WB)

Weibo Co. (NASDAQ:WB) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 4,281 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 51% compared to the typical volume of 2,836 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weibo

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Weibo by 212.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 33,059 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Weibo by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 203,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Weibo by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 23,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Weibo by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,290,626 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,932,000 after purchasing an additional 179,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Weibo by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 18,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 6,955 shares in the last quarter. 68.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Weibo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WB traded up $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $8.59. 1,749,873 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,111,018. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 7.31, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Weibo has a 12 month low of $7.58 and a 12 month high of $16.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.92.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The information services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $395.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.50 million. Weibo had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 16.74%. Research analysts expect that Weibo will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Weibo from $13.60 to $9.80 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered Weibo from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.60 price target on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Weibo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $12.90 to $11.50 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weibo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.65.

Weibo Company Profile

Weibo Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as a social media platform for people to create, distribute, and discover content in the People's Republic of China. It operates in two segments, Advertising and Marketing Services; and Value-Added Services. The company offers discovery products to help users discover content on its platform; self-expression products that enable its users to express themselves on its platform; and social products to promote social interaction between users on its platform.