Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Sold by Axiom Investors LLC DE

Axiom Investors LLC DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 7,858 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned approximately 0.11% of Wingstop worth $8,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $115,301,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,123,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 984.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,946 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,683,000 after purchasing an additional 197,853 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 392.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 184,068 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,587,000 after purchasing an additional 146,692 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Wingstop by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 268,657 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,352,000 after purchasing an additional 86,077 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WING shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (down previously from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.68.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.3 %

Wingstop stock opened at $224.00 on Monday. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.60 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.98.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Wingstop Company Profile

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.