Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 1,031,989 Shares of Warby Parker Inc. $WRBY

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in shares of Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) by 65.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 552,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,031,989 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Warby Parker were worth $11,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRBY. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Warby Parker by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,353,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,494,000 after acquiring an additional 344,879 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warby Parker in the fourth quarter valued at about $935,000. Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Warby Parker during the fourth quarter worth about $1,781,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in Warby Parker by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 423,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,223,000 after acquiring an additional 137,995 shares during the period. Finally, Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in Warby Parker in the 4th quarter worth about $8,565,000. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Warby Parker Price Performance

NYSE WRBY opened at $26.66 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.10. Warby Parker Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.96 and a fifty-two week high of $31.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 1,333.77, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.91.

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $239.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Warby Parker’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warby Parker Inc. will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Teresa Briggs sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.94, for a total value of $129,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 48,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,268,025.02. This trade represents a 9.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Neil Harris Blumenthal sold 217,667 shares of Warby Parker stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.61, for a total transaction of $6,445,119.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,112 shares in the company, valued at $921,226.32. This trade represents a 87.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,207 shares of company stock worth $10,814,738. Insiders own 16.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WRBY. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Warby Parker in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Warby Parker from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Warby Parker in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warby Parker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.82.

Warby Parker 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.