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

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 276,532 call options on the company. This is an increase of 35% compared to the typical volume of 204,117 call options.

GameStop Price Performance

NYSE GME traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.75. The stock had a trading volume of 8,720,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,086,727. The firm's 50 day moving average is $24.67 and its 200 day moving average is $24.08. GameStop has a twelve month low of $9.95 and a twelve month high of $64.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.22 and a beta of -0.11.

GameStop (NYSE:GME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.09. GameStop had a return on equity of 1.79% and a net margin of 0.93%. The firm had revenue of $860.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $887.68 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that GameStop will post 0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at GameStop

In other news, insider Daniel William Moore sold 2,624 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $55,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at $677,880. This represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Mark Haymond Robinson sold 4,667 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.96, for a total value of $102,487.32. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 54,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,206,196.92. The trade was a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,639 shares of company stock valued at $481,000. 12.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GME. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in GameStop by 535.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its holdings in GameStop by 41.7% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in GameStop in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in GameStop by 115.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 1,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in GameStop by 7,156.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 6,083 shares in the last quarter. 29.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GME. StockNews.com raised GameStop to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of GameStop in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

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.