22,115 Shares in The Children’s Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of The Children’s Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 22,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $890,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Children’s Place as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PLCE. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Children’s Place during the 4th quarter worth $20,294,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Children’s Place by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 348,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,174,000 after acquiring an additional 147,600 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Children’s Place by 852.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 154,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,624,000 after acquiring an additional 138,212 shares during the last quarter. EVR Research LP bought a new stake in Children’s Place during the 4th quarter worth $4,006,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in Children’s Place during the 4th quarter worth $3,863,000. Institutional investors own 94.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PLCE. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Children’s Place from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Children’s Place in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Children’s Place from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on Children’s Place from $40.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, May 25th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Children’s Place in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.75.

Children’s Place Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Children’s Place stock opened at $26.51 on Friday. The Children’s Place, Inc. has a one year low of $14.27 and a one year high of $48.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.99 and its 200 day moving average is $30.03. The firm has a market cap of $330.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 2.17.

Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The company reported ($2.12) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.13) by $0.01. Children’s Place had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 4.40%. The company had revenue of $345.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.89) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Children’s Place, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jane T. Elfers purchased 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,019,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 370,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,769,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Children’s Place Profile

The Children's Place, Inc operates as a children's specialty apparel retailer in North America. It operates through two segments, The Children's Place U.S. and The Children's Place International. The company offers apparel, footwear, accessories, and other items for children and tweens; and designs, contracts to manufacture, and sells merchandise under the proprietary The Children's Place, Place, Baby Place, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade, and PJ Place brand names.