Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 43.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,051 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 91,140 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.41% of Wingstop worth $50,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WING shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING stock traded down $21.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $301.33. 926,078 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 406,553. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $344.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $376.49. The stock has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.85, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $240.60 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The firm had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wingstop Profile

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.