The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price has been on a downward trend over the last couple of months. This comes despite the company reporting a robust result for the third quarter (Q3) of FY21 while pushing ahead with its expansion efforts.
At Friday's market close, Zip shares were trading hands at $8.06, down almost 10% for the week.
Below, we take a closer look at what could be weighing down the company's share price.
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What's with the Zip share price?
Zip shares have been in the spotlight during recent times as pressure mounts on the buy now, pay later (BNPL) market.
The company recorded impressive figures across its operations in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States (Quadpay) for Q3 FY21. In its quarterly update released 13 April, Zip reported that key metrics jumped on both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons following significant growth in all geographical markets.
Zip shares soared 16.9% on the back of its outstanding trading update, reaching a high of $10.61. However, investors were quick to take profit in the days following, sending the company's share price on a declining trend.
Furthermore, the announcement a few days later that Zip co-founders, Larry Diamond and Peter Gray were selling up to $1.5 million and $500,000 worth of shares, respectively, did not help matters. This put a dampener on investor sentiment, which led Zip shares to plunge 6.9% on that day alone.
The company also launched a $400 million senior unsecured convertible notes offering to support its growth in the United States. Unfortunately, the news wasn't enough to boost the Zip share price.
What are the brokers saying?
After Zip reported its third-quarter results, a number of brokers rated the company with varying price points. Analysts at Citi upgraded Zip shares to a 'buy' rating but trimmed its price target by 0.4% to $11.30. Boutique investment firm, Shaw and Shaw Partners raised its rating by 4.5% to a bullish $16.00. However, the latest broker note came from UBS which retained its sell rating and initiated a price of $6.75 for the BNPL company.
Foolish takeaway
While Zip shares have fallen around 10% in the last week, year-to-date performance stands above a 50% gain. It's worth noting that the company's shares reached an all-time high of $14.53 in mid-February, before backtracking to early 2021 levels.
On valuation grounds, Zip commands a market capitalisation of roughly $4.4 billion, with around 552.6 million shares outstanding.
