Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on GameStop (NYSE:GME)

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 827,917 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 272% compared to the average volume of 222,847 call options.

GameStop Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of NYSE GME traded down $1.68 on Thursday, hitting $29.54. The company had a trading volume of 15,799,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,582,765. GameStop has a 12-month low of $18.73 and a 12-month high of $48.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 164.09 and a beta of -0.76.

GameStop (NYSE:GME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. GameStop had a return on equity of 2.11% and a net margin of 1.45%. GameStop's revenue for the quarter was down 28.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that GameStop will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at GameStop

In related news, insider Daniel William Moore sold 1,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.53, for a total transaction of $36,228.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $670,875.81. This represents a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lawrence Cheng acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.54 per share, for a total transaction of $107,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 83,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,787,820. This trade represents a 6.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 515,000 shares of company stock worth $11,140,200. 12.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GameStop

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GME. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in GameStop by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in GameStop by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 18,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in GameStop by 133.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 4,842 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in GameStop by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of GameStop by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 17,596 shares of the company's stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 6,382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush set a $11.50 target price on GameStop in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen raised GameStop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

About GameStop

GameStop Corp., a specialty retailer, provides games and entertainment products through its stores and ecommerce platforms in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. The company sells new and pre-owned gaming platforms; accessories, such as controllers, gaming headsets, and virtual reality products; new and pre-owned gaming software; and in-game digital currency, digital downloadable content, and full-game downloads.