GameStop Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:GME)

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 119,750 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 54% compared to the typical volume of 77,690 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised GameStop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush lowered their target price on GameStop from $6.00 to $5.60 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th.

GameStop Stock Performance

NYSE GME opened at $15.91 on Thursday. GameStop has a fifty-two week low of $9.95 and a fifty-two week high of $27.65. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 795.50 and a beta of -0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.86 and a 200-day moving average of $14.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during 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 for the quarter was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that GameStop will post 0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at GameStop

In other news, General Counsel Mark Haymond Robinson sold 4,379 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 64,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $746,615.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Mark Haymond Robinson sold 4,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 64,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $746,615.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Cheng bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.22 per share, with a total value of $112,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 65,088 shares in the company, valued at $730,287.36. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,421 shares of company stock worth $288,153 in the last three months. 12.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GameStop

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GME. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in GameStop by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,283,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,160,000 after acquiring an additional 345,488 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of GameStop by 133.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 346,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,710,000 after buying an additional 198,140 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of GameStop by 844.8% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 191,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,157,000 after buying an additional 171,500 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of GameStop by 11.1% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,479,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,519,000 after buying an additional 147,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.21% of the company’s stock.

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.