Investors Buy Large Volume of GameStop Call Options (NYSE:GME)

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 123,959 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 81% compared to the typical daily volume of 68,382 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lawrence Cheng acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.22 per share, for a total transaction of $112,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 65,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,287.36. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other GameStop news, Director Lawrence Cheng bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.22 per share, with a total value of $112,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 65,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,287.36. The acquisition 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 4,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total transaction of $50,840.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 64,308 shares in the company, valued at $746,615.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,957 shares of company stock worth $68,971. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GameStop

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GME. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GameStop by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 32,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in GameStop by 3.9% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 25,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of GameStop by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of GameStop by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GameStop by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 36,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 1,363 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 29.21% of the company’s stock.

GameStop Price Performance

Shares of GME traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.93. The stock had a trading volume of 4,770,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,785,876. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.13. GameStop has a 12 month low of $9.95 and a 12 month high of $27.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 546.50 and a beta of -0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.11.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. GameStop had a return on equity of 1.35% and a net margin of 0.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that GameStop will post 0.01 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of GameStop from $6.00 to $5.60 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised GameStop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th.

About GameStop

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.