Traders Buy High Volume of Warby Parker Call Options (NYSE:WRBY)

Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 8,903 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 132% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,839 call options.

Warby Parker Stock Performance

Shares of WRBY stock opened at $28.89 on Friday. Warby Parker has a fifty-two week low of $14.96 and a fifty-two week high of $31.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,445.27 and a beta of 1.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.32.

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.08). Warby Parker had a return on equity of 2.30% and a net margin of 0.15%.The business had revenue of $242.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Warby Parker’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Warby Parker will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WRBY shares. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Warby Parker from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Warby Parker from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Warby Parker from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Insider Activity

In other Warby Parker news, CEO Neil Harris Blumenthal sold 75,213 shares of Warby Parker stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.56, for a total value of $1,847,231.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 50,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,052.40. The trade was a 59.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bradley E. Singer sold 15,793 shares of Warby Parker stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.53, for a total value of $434,781.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,026 shares in the company, valued at $441,195.78. This trade represents a 49.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 115,793 shares of company stock worth $2,901,550 in the last quarter. 16.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warby Parker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRBY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Warby Parker by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,679,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,375,726 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Warby Parker during the fourth quarter worth about $46,484,000. SRS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warby Parker during the fourth quarter worth about $31,277,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Warby Parker by 96.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,888,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,433,000 after purchasing an additional 929,073 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Warby Parker by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,078,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,298,000 after purchasing an additional 865,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.24% of the company’s stock.

Warby Parker Company Profile

Warby Parker, Inc (NYSE: WRBY) is a U.S.-based eyewear company that designs, manufactures and sells prescription glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses through a direct-to-consumer model. Since its founding, the company has combined online and brick-and-mortar channels to streamline the customer experience, offering features such as virtual try-on technology and a home try-on program that allows consumers to sample frames before purchase.

Established in 2010 by Wharton graduates Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raider, Warby Parker set out to disrupt the traditional optical market by controlling the entire supply chain—from frame design and lens production to warehousing and distribution.