LPL Financial LLC Sells 3,854 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has reduced its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 22.7%, selling 3,854 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 13,106 shares valued at approximately $2.96 million.
• CEO Michael Skipworth and SVP Marisa Carona sold a combined total of 16,438 shares on August 1st, worth nearly $6.1 million, indicating notable insider selling activity.
• Wingstop has recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous $0.27 and demonstrating a healthy payout ratio of 18.00%.

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 22.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,106 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,854 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $2,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Wingstop by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Wingstop by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 106.9% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 280.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ:WING traded down $8.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $330.92. 566,854 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 824,491. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $336.87 and a 200 day moving average of $289.64. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 55.15, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.The firm had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WING has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim increased their target price on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.52.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total transaction of $2,030,886.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. The trade was a 39.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,838 shares of company stock worth $11,491,935 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.