Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) Shares Down 3.5% – Time to Sell?

Hello Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MOMO)’s share price dropped 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $6.32 and last traded at $6.33. Approximately 472,046 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,681,096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MOMO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Hello Group from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Benchmark cut their price target on Hello Group from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Hello Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Hello Group from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hello Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.93.

Hello Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $921.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $2.13. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Hello Group had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 12.40%. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hello Group Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hello Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BRIGHT VALLEY CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in Hello Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,553,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Hello Group by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 448,013 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 93,238 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hello Group by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,716,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,736,000 after purchasing an additional 633,746 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hello Group by 472.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,873 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hello Group by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 721,760 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,417,000 after purchasing an additional 133,113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.96% of the company’s stock.

About Hello Group

Hello Group Inc provides mobile-based social and entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. It operates in three segments: Momo, Tantan, and QOOL. The company offers Momo, a mobile application that connects people and facilitates social interactions based on location, interests, and various online recreational activities, including live talent shows, short videos, social games, as well as other video- and audio-based interactive experiences, such as online parties, mobile karaoke and user participated reality shows; Tantan, a social and dating application; and other applications under the Hertz, Soulchill, Duidui, and Tietie names.