Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) was the target of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, a decline of 13.5% from the December 31st total of 2,820,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 423,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ziff Davis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Ziff Davis by 2.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,214,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $156,422,000 after purchasing an additional 62,261 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ziff Davis by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,274,762 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,040,000 after purchasing an additional 36,863 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ziff Davis by 100,954.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,267,221 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,967 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ziff Davis by 9.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 695,542 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,845,000 after purchasing an additional 60,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its position in Ziff Davis by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 501,313 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,394,000 after purchasing an additional 49,510 shares during the period. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ZD. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ziff Davis from $76.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ziff Davis from $44.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ziff Davis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.71.

Ziff Davis Price Performance

ZD opened at $53.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 45.67 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $55.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.68. Ziff Davis has a 1 year low of $37.76 and a 1 year high of $70.02.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $353.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.66 million. Ziff Davis had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 13.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ziff Davis will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.