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

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 342,087 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 31% compared to the typical daily volume of 260,948 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GME. Wall Street Zen raised shares of GameStop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and set a $13.50 price objective on shares of GameStop in a research report on Wednesday.

GameStop Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of GME stock opened at $22.18 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.35. GameStop has a 12-month low of $18.73 and a 12-month high of $35.81. The firm has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.20 and a beta of -0.69.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $732.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $754.23 million. GameStop had a return on equity of 2.11% and a net margin of 1.45%. GameStop’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that GameStop will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GameStop news, insider Daniel William Moore sold 1,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.53, for a total value of $36,228.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,875.81. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alain Attal purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.75 per share, with a total value of $257,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 572,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,740,948. The trade was a 1.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 515,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,140,200. Company insiders own 12.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of GameStop by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 46,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of GameStop by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 112,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in shares of GameStop by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 78,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after buying an additional 26,488 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of GameStop by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,069,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,526,000 after buying an additional 42,793 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of GameStop by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 157,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,950,000 after acquiring an additional 4,953 shares during the last quarter. 29.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GameStop Company Profile

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.