Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:PLAY - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $25.49, but opened at $26.32. Dave & Buster's Entertainment shares last traded at $26.90, with a volume of 476,790 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CEO Kevin M. Sheehan bought 37,735 shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $961,487.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 139,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,542,000.28. This represents a 37.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLAY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Dave & Buster's Entertainment from $51.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $34.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dave & Buster's Entertainment has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.38.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 2.13.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The restaurant operator reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.28. Dave & Buster's Entertainment had a return on equity of 44.22% and a net margin of 3.88%. The company had revenue of $557.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.65 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dave & Buster's Entertainment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLAY. Eminence Capital LP raised its position in shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 69.3% during the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,768,476 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $150,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,154 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,266,280 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $50,411,000 after purchasing an additional 95,499 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 104.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,225,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $48,767,000 after purchasing an additional 626,497 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,144,268 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $45,553,000 after purchasing an additional 25,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 793,767 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,600,000 after buying an additional 6,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.45% of the company's stock.

About Dave & Buster's Entertainment

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc owns and operates entertainment and dining venues for adults and families. Its venues offer a menu of entrees and appetizers, as well as a selection of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages; and an assortment of entertainment attractions centered on playing games and watching live sports, and other televised events.