Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 1,272.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,648 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,143 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Wingstop worth $7,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WING. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Wingstop by 542.8% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 9,097 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 235.2% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,825 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,777,000 after purchasing an additional 7,596 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the first quarter worth approximately $1,355,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 279,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $71,827,000 after purchasing an additional 36,017 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE purchased a new position in Wingstop in the 4th quarter valued at $11,006,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WING. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $407.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Wingstop from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $357.89.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 645 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.74, for a total value of $255,252.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,036,873.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Albert G. Mcgrath sold 4,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.40, for a total transaction of $1,676,772.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,238,588. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 645 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.74, for a total transaction of $255,252.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,036,873.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,443,547. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ WING traded up $9.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $376.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 774,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,570. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $394.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $359.79. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.08 and a 52-week high of $431.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 134.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.69.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.22. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 16.75%. The firm had revenue of $145.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $136.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop 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.