Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) Chief Executive Officer, Donald Mattrick sold 2,145,315 shares of Class A Common Stock in the open market transaction on Wednesday, at an average weighted price of $3.02 per share. After the transaction, Mattrick is left with 1,901,113 shares worth approximately $5,741,361, according to a filing with the SEC. Mattrick bought 4,046,428 shares on Tuesday, using stock option of restricted stock units.
Other insider selling’s
The CEO of the company has made first such transaction, unlike other insiders. Back in May, General Counsel and Vice President of Zynga Devang Shah unloaded 5,000 shares at an average price of $3.31 per share. In another such transaction, in February, Chief financial officer and CAO, Mark Vranesh sold 60,760 shares at a price of $5.13 per share.
Hedge funds involved in some kind of action this quarter include Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, which acquired 28.4 million shares, with a value of $122.3 million. Another Hedge Fund headed by David Stemerman purchased 18.3 million shares, worth $78.7 million, accounting for 3.48% of the hedge fund’s portfolio.
Zynga to post in line 2Q results
Michael Oslon of Piper Jaffray expects the game maker to post in line results for the second quarter. According to a consensus estimate polled by the FactSet, the social gaming company is expected to post revenue of $190.96 million for the June quarter.
According to Oslon, Zynga titles have rankings in the top 200 games category. Also, ranking of Zynga games in the top 20 highest grossing lists enhanced during the second quarter which is in line with analyst firm’s forecast of moderate sequential growth. The research firm notes that FarmVille 2 will be a substantial catalyst in driving the Zynga Inc’s revenue forward in the third quarter. Oslon has suggested a “wait and see” approach for the company’s performance in the second quarter of 2014.
According to the analyst, if Zynga lowers its guidance for 2015 than the research firm will show some confidence in the stock. Presently, Wall Street projects 21% bookings growth for 2015, compared to Olson’s estimate of 17% YoY growth.
Rival, King Digital has been upgraded by Piper Jaffray from Neutral to Overweight with a price target of $28 (up from $19). Piper Jaffray maintains Neutral rating on Zynga with a price target of $4.50.
