Burlington Stores Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BURL)

Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 7,274 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 48% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,911 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BURL. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Burlington Stores from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Burlington Stores from $297.00 to $269.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down previously from $340.00) on shares of Burlington Stores in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Burlington Stores from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Burlington Stores from $287.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Burlington Stores has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.27.

Burlington Stores Stock Up 0.3%

BURL stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $228.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,004,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 993,699. Burlington Stores has a 1-year low of $212.92 and a 1-year high of $298.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $239.08 and a 200 day moving average of $259.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.70.

Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Burlington Stores had a return on equity of 47.52% and a net margin of 4.49%. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Burlington Stores will post 7.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Burlington Stores

In other Burlington Stores news, COO Travis Marquette sold 190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.63, for a total transaction of $45,149.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 22,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,431,746.54. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Jennifer Vecchio sold 4,939 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.94, for a total transaction of $1,185,063.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 70,006 shares in the company, valued at $16,797,239.64. This represents a 6.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Burlington Stores by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,603,257 shares of the company's stock worth $1,573,754,000 after buying an additional 219,124 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,160,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,470,929,000 after acquiring an additional 367,703 shares in the last quarter. SRS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Burlington Stores by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Investment Management LLC now owns 1,270,421 shares of the company's stock worth $362,146,000 after purchasing an additional 123,973 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Burlington Stores by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,083,852 shares of the company's stock worth $308,403,000 after purchasing an additional 8,892 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in Burlington Stores by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,051,611 shares of the company's stock worth $299,772,000 after purchasing an additional 197,187 shares during the period.

About Burlington Stores

Burlington Stores, Inc operates as a retailer of branded merchandise in the United States. The company provides fashion-focused merchandise, including women's ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, footwear, accessories, toys, gifts, and coats, as well as baby, home, and beauty products.