Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Stock Price

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $389.00 to $375.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 60.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. TD Securities lowered their price target on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.05.

Wingstop Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of Wingstop stock opened at $234.02 on Thursday. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $232.19 and a 52 week high of $433.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $288.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.46. The company has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 63.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 277.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,356,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares in the last quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,544,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,010,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $193,630,000 after purchasing an additional 134,802 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter valued at $874,000.

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.