Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 167.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $342,763,000 after purchasing an additional 22,552 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Wingstop by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,150,217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $326,893,000 after purchasing an additional 262,229 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Wingstop by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $227,852,000 after purchasing an additional 154,055 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 573,999 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $163,131,000 after purchasing an additional 101,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Wingstop by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 547,831 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $155,694,000 after purchasing an additional 14,124 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141,177.19. The trade was a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total transaction of $3,373,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,190 shares in the company, valued at $15,919,074.60. This trade represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ WING traded down $4.39 on Friday, hitting $354.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,202,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,457. The business's fifty day moving average price is $289.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.90. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.25 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.37% and a negative return on equity of 21.59%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WING shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $271.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Wingstop from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $350.96.

Wingstop Company Profile

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.