Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) Shares Down 6.3% – What’s Next?

Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY)’s share price was down 6.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.40 and last traded at $26.2720. 171,730 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 3,200,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WRBY. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Warby Parker from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Warby Parker in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Warby Parker in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Warby Parker from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.82.

Warby Parker Trading Down 4.6%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.94. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,336.67, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.91.

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $242.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.44 million. Warby Parker had a net margin of 0.15% and a return on equity of 2.30%. Warby Parker’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warby Parker Inc. will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warby Parker news, Director Bradley E. Singer sold 4,833 shares of Warby Parker stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total transaction of $140,205.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,901,000. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Neil Harris Blumenthal sold 217,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.61, for a total value of $6,445,119.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,226.32. This represents a 87.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 457,007 shares of company stock valued at $13,005,598 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 16.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warby Parker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Warby Parker by 101.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 171,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,122,000 after acquiring an additional 86,053 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Warby Parker by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 52,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warby Parker by 96.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,888,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,433,000 after buying an additional 929,073 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Warby Parker in the first quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Warby Parker by 17.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 257,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,685,000 after acquiring an additional 38,395 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Warby Parker

Warby Parker, Inc (NYSE: WRBY) is a U.S.-based eyewear company that designs, manufactures and sells prescription glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses through a direct-to-consumer model. Since its founding, the company has combined online and brick-and-mortar channels to streamline the customer experience, offering features such as virtual try-on technology and a home try-on program that allows consumers to sample frames before purchase.

Established in 2010 by Wharton graduates Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raider, Warby Parker set out to disrupt the traditional optical market by controlling the entire supply chain—from frame design and lens production to warehousing and distribution.