Twitter Shares Fall 5% After Analysts Lower Price Target

Shares of Twitter Inc. fell 5% Thursday after Citi analysts lowered their price target to $30 from $37. Citi analysts also lowered its 2016 ad revenue forecast and maintained a neutral rating but added a "high-risk component" to the rating. "Our analysis suggests that consensus estimates for 2016, particularly with respect to US ad revenue, may be too high, as they implicitly assume large increases in monetization that may not materialize," the note says. The fall in Twitter's stock also comes as the company has yet to name a permanent chief executive to replace former CEO Dick Costolo, who stepped down July 1. Twitter investor Chris Sacca has called for the board to make interim CEO Jack Dorsey the permanent CEO and SunTrust analyst Bob Peck noted Monday that the shareholders support Dorsey as CEO but that the prolonged search is making them impatient. Shares of Twitter have fallen 26% in the past three months, compared to the S&P 500's loss of 9%.