LPL Financial LLC Sells 3,854 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

LPL Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,854 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $2,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 106.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 280.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wingstop news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,838 shares of company stock valued at $11,491,935 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ:WING opened at $336.84 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.00 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $337.60 and a 200 day moving average of $289.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a PE ratio of 56.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 18.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.52.

Wingstop Company 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.