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

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 358,742 call options on the company. This is an increase of 69% compared to the typical daily volume of 212,466 call options.

GameStop Stock Performance

Shares of GameStop stock traded up $3.68 on Wednesday, reaching $29.08. The stock had a trading volume of 31,546,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,398,992. GameStop has a fifty-two week low of $9.95 and a fifty-two week high of $64.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.67. The stock has a market cap of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 161.34 and a beta of -0.29.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. GameStop had a net margin of 1.45% and a return on equity of 2.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 28.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that GameStop will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of GameStop in a research report on Monday.

Insider Transactions at GameStop

In other GameStop news, insider Daniel William Moore sold 895 shares of GameStop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.07, for a total value of $27,807.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,385 shares in the company, valued at $975,131.95. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mark Haymond Robinson sold 1,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.07, for a total transaction of $48,997.39. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 42,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,814.50. This represents a 3.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of GameStop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GME. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of GameStop by 22.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,502,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,322,000 after acquiring an additional 646,488 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in GameStop in the 4th quarter valued at $878,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in GameStop by 270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 150,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,452,000 after purchasing an additional 109,900 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of GameStop by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 471,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,804,000 after purchasing an additional 138,597 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of GameStop by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,565,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,401,000 after buying an additional 60,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.21% of the company’s stock.

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.