Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Warby Parker Inc. $WRBY

Key Points

• Wellington Shields Capital Management opened a new position in Warby Parker during the fourth quarter, buying 42,927 shares valued at about $935,000.
• Several other large institutional investors also boosted their stakes, including Vanguard and JPMorgan, and institutional ownership now stands at 93.24% of the company.
• Warby Parker reported Q1 revenue growth of 8.4% to $242.45 million, but earnings missed estimates; meanwhile, analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $29.50 average price target.

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 42,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Warby Parker by 3.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,665,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $294,155,000 after acquiring an additional 327,830 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Warby Parker by 40.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,303,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,426,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120,768 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Warby Parker by 10.1% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,060,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,818,000 after acquiring an additional 189,758 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Warby Parker by 96.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,888,817 shares of the company's stock worth $34,433,000 after buying an additional 929,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position in Warby Parker by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,353,554 shares of the company's stock worth $29,494,000 after buying an additional 344,879 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Warby Parker

In other news, Director Bradley E. Singer sold 20,167 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.51, for a total value of $574,961.17. Following the transaction, the director owned 104,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,988,788.83. This represents a 16.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Neil Harris Blumenthal sold 75,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.56, for a total value of $1,847,231.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,052.40. The trade was a 59.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 203,833 shares of company stock worth $5,509,808 in the last ninety days. 16.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Warby Parker Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE WRBY opened at $25.10 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $23.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.61. The company has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of 1,255.63 and a beta of 1.95. Warby Parker Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.96 and a twelve month high of $31.00.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WRBY. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Warby Parker in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Warby Parker from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Warby Parker from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Warby Parker in a research report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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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