Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Wayfair Inc. saw a significant increase in short interest, with a total of 22,790,000 shares shorted as of July 15, representing a 110.4% increase from the previous month.
• Insider trading reports show that significant executives, including Steven Conine and Jon Blotner, sold a combined total of 73,857 shares over recent transactions, indicating a notable decrease in their positions.
• Analyst ratings highlight a consensus of "Moderate Buy" for Wayfair, with Stifel Nicolaus and UBS increasing their price targets to $68.00 and $91.00 respectively.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 22,790,000 shares, anincreaseof110.4% from the June 30th total of 10,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 5,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wayfair news, insider Steven Conine sold 60,000 shares of Wayfair stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.02, for a total value of $3,361,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,471,469.46. The trade was a 26.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jon Blotner sold 13,857 shares of Wayfair stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.45, for a total value of $782,227.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 91,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,151,796.35. This represents a 13.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 800,204 shares of company stock valued at $40,135,236. Insiders own 21.91% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Wayfair by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 97,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,973,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Wayfair by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,348 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Wayfair by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Wayfair in the second quarter worth about $1,512,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wayfair by 14.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

W has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Wayfair from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on Wayfair from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zelman & Associates upped their target price on Wayfair from $55.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Wayfair in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Wayfair from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wayfair has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.77.

Wayfair Stock Up 0.6%

W stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,957,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,143,562. Wayfair has a 1 year low of $20.41 and a 1 year high of $76.29. The company has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.90 and a beta of 2.92. The company's fifty day moving average is $52.58 and its 200-day moving average is $42.25.

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

About Wayfair

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.

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