Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stake in Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 175,767 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 27,592 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.41% of Ziff Davis worth $9,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Ziff Davis by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,840 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Ziff Davis by 36.0% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 9,816 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 20.0% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 32,999 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 13.6% in the third quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 14,290 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ziff Davis during the third quarter worth approximately $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ziff Davis from $76.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Ziff Davis from $44.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.71.

Ziff Davis Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ZD opened at $52.37 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Ziff Davis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.76 and a twelve month high of $70.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.38 and a beta of 1.36.

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

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.