King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $9.22 Million Position in Warby Parker Inc. $WRBY

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management boosted its Warby Parker stake by 48.4% in Q4, ending with 423,258 shares valued at about $9.22 million. Institutional investors now own 93.24% of the stock.
• Warby Parker reported Q1 earnings of $0.03 per share, missing estimates, while revenue came in at $242.45 million, slightly above forecasts and up 8.4% year over year. Analysts expect the company to post $0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Neil Blumenthal, who sold 63,040 shares in May, and Director Bradley E. Singer, who also reduced his stake. Despite that, Wall Street remains cautiously positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $29.50.

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY - Free Report) by 48.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 423,258 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 137,995 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.40% of Warby Parker worth $9,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warby Parker during the 4th quarter worth approximately $935,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Warby Parker in the 4th quarter valued at $493,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Warby Parker in the 4th quarter valued at $8,723,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Warby Parker in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Warby Parker by 6,677.1% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,253 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 3,205 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warby Parker Stock Performance

WRBY opened at $25.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,285.09 and a beta of 1.95. Warby Parker Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.96 and a 52-week high of $31.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $23.78 and its 200-day moving average is $23.72.

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $242.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.44 million. Warby Parker had a return on equity of 2.30% and a net margin of 0.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Warby Parker Inc. will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warby Parker

In related news, CEO Neil Harris Blumenthal sold 63,040 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $1,893,091.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,454.95. This represents a 55.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bradley E. Singer sold 4,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total value of $140,205.33. Following the sale, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,901,000. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,833 shares of company stock valued at $5,509,808. 16.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WRBY. Weiss Ratings raised Warby Parker from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Warby Parker from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Warby Parker in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.50.

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.

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