Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) Shares Up 9.1% – What’s Next?

Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY)’s stock price shot up 9.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $25.36 and last traded at $25.3760. 1,057,516 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 3,604,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRBY. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Warby Parker from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Warby Parker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Warby Parker from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Warby Parker from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Warby Parker in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.75.

Warby Parker Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.55 and its 200 day moving average is $23.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,828.70 and a beta of 2.05.

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $221.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.49 million. Warby Parker had a return on equity of 1.96% and a net margin of 0.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.03) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Warby Parker Inc. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Warby Parker

In related news, Director Youngme E. Moon sold 38,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $1,128,846.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,546.99. This represents a 58.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Neil Harris Blumenthal sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $3,763,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $931,315.71. This represents a 80.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 308,764 shares of company stock valued at $8,439,778. 18.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warby Parker

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Warby Parker by 259.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Warby Parker by 400.3% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Warby Parker by 111.0% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Warby Parker by 56.7% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Warby Parker by 39.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 3,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Warby Parker

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.