Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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. The institutional investor owned 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 1.9% during the 4th 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,150,217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $326,893,000 after acquiring an additional 262,229 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $227,852,000 after acquiring an additional 154,055 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 573,999 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $163,131,000 after acquiring an additional 101,247 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 547,831 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $155,694,000 after purchasing an additional 14,124 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total value of $173,945.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $141,177.19. The trade was a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total transaction of $3,373,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WING has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Wingstop from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $350.96.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING traded down $22.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $358.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,131,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 635,292. The firm has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The business's fifty day moving average is $286.62 and its 200 day moving average is $278.16.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

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.