Zynga Inc Stock Makes A Comeback On Friday

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Zynga shares gained Friday following a sharp decline on Thursday, when the company announced the exit of CEO Don Mattrick and the return of Mark Pincus to fill the position. Heavy trading was witnessed in the stock on Friday, helping it to rebound from the loss. On Friday, Zynga shares closed up 4.62% at $2.49.

Big management change

According to the Street, around 35.9 million shares traded by 3:05 p.m. Friday, which is well above the game maker’s 18.5 million share average trading volume. Zynga declined on Thursday after the company announced the big management change. Mattrick joined the social game maker in 2013 after working as the head of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox division.

Commenting on his comeback, Pincus said, “I am returning to the company that I love in order to accelerate innovation in the most popular games.” Highlighting on the strategy that he will be pursuing, the new CEO said that he will be partnering with leaders to better the gaming experience for the players.

Analyst’s verdict on Zynga

Many analysts have come out with their verdict on Zynga in last few weeks. In a research note on Wednesday, analysts at Vetr lowered their rating on the game maker from Buy to Hold, and assigned a price target of $2.97. Zacks also downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral, and gave a price target of $2.70 in a research note on February 19th. Separately, Piper Jaffray, in a research note on February 13th, assigned a $2.50 price target to Zynga with a Hold rating. In a research note on February 13th, Benchmark Co. lowered their price target on Zynga from $2.45 to $2.36, and assigned a Hold rating. Presently, Zynga has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $3.50.

Separately, in a transaction dated April 8th, Zynga VP Devang Shah sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock. Shah sold the shares at an average price of $2.88, for a total transaction value of $144,000. After the sale, the VP directly owns 135,975 shares of the company worth approximately $391,608, according to a filing with the SEC. The game maker has hit a 52-week low of $2.20 and a 52-week high of $4.66.

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