BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) Trading 8.8% Higher – Here’s Why

BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB) shares were up 8.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $5.72 and last traded at $5.74. Approximately 14,983,071 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 21,768,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of BlackBerry from $3.25 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on BlackBerry from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. CIBC upped their price objective on BlackBerry from $3.50 to $3.60 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen raised BlackBerry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $3.25 to $4.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of BlackBerry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $3.25 to $4.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3.69.

BlackBerry Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.34 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.91.

BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $143.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.84 million. BlackBerry had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 21.16%. BlackBerry’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackBerry Limited will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackBerry

In related news, CEO John Joseph Giamatteo sold 155,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.68, for a total value of $573,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,418,831.36. This represents a 28.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jay P. Chai sold 24,425 shares of BlackBerry stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.19, for a total value of $102,340.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 244,221 shares of company stock worth $925,655 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackBerry

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of BlackBerry in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackBerry during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mindset Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackBerry in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackBerry in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackBerry in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.48% of the company’s stock.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry Limited provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Cybersecurity, IoT, and Licensing and Other. The company offers CylanceENDPOINT, an integrated endpoint security solution; CylanceGUARD, a managed detection and response solution; CylanceEDGE, an AI-powered continuous authentication zero trust network access solution; CylanceINTELLIGENCE, a contextual cyber threat intelligence service; BlackBerry Dynamics offers a development platform and secure container for mobile applications; BlackBerry Workspaces a secure Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) solution; BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Enterprise, an enterprise-grade secure instant messaging solution for messaging, voice and video; BlackBerry SecuSUITE is a certified, multi-OS voice and text messaging solution; BlackBerry AtHoc, a secure networked critical event management solution; and BlackBerry unified endpoint management (UEM) solutions.