Allen Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Wayfair Inc. $W

Key Points

• Allen Investment Management LLC increased its Wayfair stake by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 183,000 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 749,250 shares worth about $75.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted positions in Wayfair, and overall 89.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Analysts remain mixed but mostly constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $99.89, even as multiple firms recently lowered their price targets.

Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W - Free Report) by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749,250 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 183,000 shares during the quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC owned about 0.57% of Wayfair worth $75,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Wayfair by 826.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,817,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,648,000 after buying an additional 2,512,854 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wayfair in the third quarter valued at $108,125,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wayfair during the 4th quarter worth $117,973,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Wayfair by 197.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,557,937 shares of the company's stock worth $79,673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wayfair by 351.9% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,294,057 shares of the company's stock worth $66,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,676 shares during the period. 89.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on W shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Wayfair from $92.00 to $76.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Wayfair from $100.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Wayfair from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wayfair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Wayfair from $125.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.89.

Wayfair Trading Up 0.7%

W stock opened at $72.79 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.50. Wayfair Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $119.98. The company has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 3.02.

Wayfair (NYSE:W - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. Wayfair had a negative return on equity of 2.20% and a negative net margin of 2.41%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Wayfair's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wayfair Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jon Blotner sold 4,790 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.19, for a total transaction of $345,790.10. Following the sale, the insider owned 111,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,024,496.02. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Steven Conine sold 7,139 shares of Wayfair stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.55, for a total value of $560,768.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 429,073 shares in the company, valued at $33,703,684.15. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 463,785 shares of company stock worth $35,864,224. 18.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Wayfair

Wayfair Inc NYSE: W is an e-commerce company focused on home furnishings and décor. Through its platform, Wayfair offers a broad assortment of furniture, lighting, home textiles, kitchenware and decorative accessories. The company's portfolio includes flagship sites such as Wayfair.com, as well as specialty retail brands like Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane and Perigold, each catering to distinct design styles and price points.

Founded in 2002 by Niraj Shah and Steve Conine under the name CSN Stores, the business rebranded as Wayfair in 2011 and went public in 2014.

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