Traders Buy High Volume of BARK Call Options (NYSE:BARK)

BARK, Inc. (NYSE:BARK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 7,439 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 839% compared to the average daily volume of 792 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BARK in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut BARK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of BARK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

Insider Activity at BARK

In other BARK news, Director Henrik Werdelin sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.65, for a total transaction of $32,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,890,385 shares in the company, valued at $7,078,750.25. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jim Mcginty sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.63, for a total value of $37,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 439,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $276,811.92. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 14.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BARK

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BARK. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of BARK by 1,150.5% during the second quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,974,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816,345 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in BARK by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 230,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd boosted its position in BARK by 195.5% during the 2nd quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 47,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 31,673 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in BARK by 100.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 21,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BARK in the second quarter valued at about $91,000. 28.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BARK Stock Performance

BARK stock opened at $0.93 on Friday. BARK has a 52 week low of $0.53 and a 52 week high of $2.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $0.70 and its 200 day moving average is $0.80. The firm has a market cap of $158.89 million, a P/E ratio of -4.63 and a beta of 1.90.

BARK (NYSE:BARK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.02). BARK had a negative return on equity of 23.45% and a negative net margin of 7.81%.The business had revenue of $106.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.57 million. As a group, analysts forecast that BARK will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

About BARK

BARK is a consumer products and services company focused on the canine market, offering a suite of subscription-based and direct‐to‐consumer offerings designed to meet the everyday needs of dogs and their owners. The company’s core business revolves around carefully curated boxes of toys, treats and chews, which are delivered monthly to subscribers through its flagship BarkBox service. Over time, BARK has expanded its reach beyond subscription, tapping into e-commerce and wholesale channels to broaden its customer base.

In addition to BarkBox, the company operates BarkShop, an online storefront that allows customers to purchase toys, grooming supplies and nutrition products on an a la carte basis.