American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 19,759 Shares of National Vision Holdings, Inc. $EYE

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 164,094 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,759 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of National Vision worth $2,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in National Vision during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in National Vision by 87.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,050 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in National Vision by 49.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in National Vision by 61.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,362 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in National Vision in the first quarter valued at approximately $147,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on EYE. National Bankshares set a $30.00 price objective on National Vision in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Roth Capital began coverage on National Vision in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $27.00 price objective on National Vision and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets set a $19.00 price objective on National Vision and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised National Vision from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at National Vision

In other news, Chairman L Reade Fahs sold 137,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.33, for a total value of $3,342,942.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 544,795 shares in the company, valued at $13,254,862.35. This trade represents a 20.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

National Vision Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of EYE stock traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,398,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,140,226. National Vision Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.56 and a 12 month high of $25.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.48. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.23.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. National Vision had a positive return on equity of 3.56% and a negative net margin of 0.75%.The company had revenue of $486.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that National Vision Holdings, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Vision Profile

National Vision Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America's Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services.