Stock Traders Buy High Volume of GameStop Call Options (NYSE:GME)

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 123,959 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 81% compared to the typical volume of 68,382 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded GameStop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush decreased their price target on GameStop from $6.00 to $5.60 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th.

GameStop Stock Performance

GameStop stock opened at $11.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 560.78 and a beta of -0.45. GameStop has a 52 week low of $9.95 and a 52 week high of $27.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.88 and a 200-day moving average of $14.09.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. GameStop had a net margin of 0.13% and a return on equity of 1.35%. The business’s revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that GameStop will post 0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Mark Haymond Robinson sold 4,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total transaction of $50,840.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 64,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $746,615.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other GameStop news, Director Lawrence Cheng bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.22 per share, with a total value of $112,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,088 shares in the company, valued at $730,287.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Mark Haymond Robinson sold 4,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total transaction of $50,840.19. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 64,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $746,615.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,428 shares of company stock valued at $205,702 in the last 90 days. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GameStop

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GME. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in GameStop by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,450,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,143,000 after buying an additional 167,145 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in GameStop by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,606,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,693,000 after buying an additional 289,947 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in GameStop by 0.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,137,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,176,000 after buying an additional 16,875 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in GameStop by 2.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,932,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,812,000 after buying an additional 40,602 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in GameStop by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,331,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,342,000 after buying an additional 100,084 shares during the period. 29.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About GameStop

GameStop Corp., a specialty retailer, provides games and entertainment products through its stores and ecommerce platforms in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. The company sells new and pre-owned gaming platforms; accessories, such as controllers, gaming headsets, and virtual reality products; new and pre-owned gaming software; and in-game digital currency, digital downloadable content, and full-game downloads.