Wayfair (NYSE:W) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $46.33, but opened at $49.22. Wayfair shares last traded at $45.36, with a volume of 2,939,805 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on W. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Wayfair from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Wayfair from $76.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Wayfair in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price objective on Wayfair from $70.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Wayfair from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.80.

Wayfair Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -10.43 and a beta of 3.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.42 and its 200 day moving average is $46.50.

Wayfair (NYSE:W) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.96) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. On average, analysts expect that Wayfair Inc. will post -2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Fiona Tan sold 8,249 shares of Wayfair stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.91, for a total transaction of $370,462.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 96,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,336,374.87. The trade was a 7.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kate Gulliver sold 5,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.95, for a total value of $268,531.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,841,881.80. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 164,228 shares of company stock valued at $7,830,018. 26.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wayfair

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Wayfair by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,506,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,596,000 after acquiring an additional 782,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wayfair by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,315,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,856,000 after purchasing an additional 327,603 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Wayfair by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,179,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,887,000 after buying an additional 740,641 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Wayfair by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,834,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,952,000 after buying an additional 581,000 shares during the period. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wayfair by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,096,000 after buying an additional 1,400,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.67% of the company’s stock.

Wayfair Company Profile

Wayfair Inc provides e-commerce business in the United States and internationally. The company offers approximately thirty million products for the home sector. It offers online selections of furniture, décor, housewares, and home improvement products through its sites consisting of Wayfair, Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane, Perigold, and Wayfair Professional.