Graham Capital Management L.P. Increases Stake in Wayfair Inc. $W

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Wayfair Inc. by 20%, now owning 50,471 shares worth approximately $1.6 million.
• Insider sales have occurred with both the CEO and another insider selling 85,000 shares each, which represented a 15.62% decrease in their ownership.
• Wayfair reported quarterly earnings that exceeded estimates, with $0.87 EPS against a forecast of $0.33, and a revenue of $3.27 billion.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W - Free Report) by 20.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,471 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,413 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Wayfair were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in W. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Wayfair by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 67,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 4,177 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Wayfair by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 463,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,540,000 after acquiring an additional 47,326 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Wayfair in the 4th quarter worth approximately $900,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its stake in Wayfair by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 63,217 shares of the company's stock worth $2,802,000 after buying an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Wayfair by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 835,455 shares of the company's stock worth $37,027,000 after buying an additional 131,455 shares in the last quarter. 89.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Niraj Shah sold 199,422 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.40, for a total value of $15,634,684.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 544,137 shares in the company, valued at $42,660,340.80. This trade represents a 26.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Conine sold 199,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.40, for a total transaction of $15,638,683.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 544,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,655,323.20. The trade was a 26.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,240,204 shares of company stock valued at $81,706,986. 21.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Wayfair from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Wayfair from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Wayfair in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Wayfair from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Wayfair from $50.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wayfair presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.19.

Wayfair Trading Up 8.2%

NYSE W traded up $6.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.61. The company had a trading volume of 7,514,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,180,693. Wayfair Inc. has a one year low of $20.41 and a one year high of $90.05. The company has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.34 and a beta of 2.95. The company's fifty day moving average is $67.85 and its 200-day moving average is $47.40.

Wayfair (NYSE:W - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wayfair Inc. will post -2.54 EPS for the current year.

Wayfair Profile

Wayfair Inc provides e-commerce business in the United States and internationally. The company offers approximately thirty million products for the home sector. It offers online selections of furniture, décor, housewares, and home improvement products through its sites consisting of Wayfair, Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane, Perigold, and Wayfair Professional.