Zynga Inc stock has seen a few ups and down this week so far, declining on Monday and Tuesday and rising on Wednesday. The fall on Tuesday was primarily due to insider selling that occurred on Monday, while the gain on Wednesday was contributed by the launch of the mobile-version of Empires & Allies. On Monday, shares of the social game maker were down 2.4% to close at $2.44.
Ups and downs
Zynga Director Ellen F. Siminoff sold 10,000 shares of the company in an open market transaction on Dec. 15. Siminoff sold the shares at an average price of $2.51, for a total value of $25,100. After the sale, the executive holds 39,308 shares of the company valued at approximately $98,663, according to an SEC filing. Following the sale on Tuesday, Zynga shares were down by over 4%.
On Wednesday, shares of the social game maker were up over 4% after the company unveiled the early beta mobile version of its once-popular game Empires & Allies. Zynga said Action Strategy is one of the popular categories on mobile, and by launching Empires & Allies, the company has taken a first step into the category and assured its commitment to it throughout 2015.
Empires & Allies was launched on Facebook in June 2011, and within a month, it gained nearly 40 million users. However, in April 2013, the game was ended on Facebook. As of now, Zynga is testing the game in selected areas, and later, if all goes well, the company will release the game in more territories.
Zynga needs one big hit
Many analysts have commented on the stock recently. In a research note on Nov. 11, analysts at Jefferies Group upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and also raised their price target from $2.48 previously to $4.50. Analysts at Credit Suisse, in a research note Nov. 7, reiterated their Underperform rating on the game maker and increased their price target from $3.42 to $3.44. Overall, Zynga has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $3.75.
So far this year, Zynga stock is down by over 37%. The game maker’s stock has been under-performing since the company’s IPO. Zynga is struggling to report a profit even after posting revenue of over $170 million. The social game maker did come up with many titles during the year but was unable to get the required or expected amount of popularity. However, experts believe Zynga needs just one big hit to regain the required momentum.