Petco Health and Wellness Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:WOOF)

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 22,057 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,194% compared to the typical volume of 1,704 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Petco Health and Wellness by 73.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,225,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,084,000 after acquiring an additional 2,210,988 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Petco Health and Wellness in the third quarter worth about $1,574,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Petco Health and Wellness by 3.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,717,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,563,000 after buying an additional 227,704 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Petco Health and Wellness during the third quarter valued at approximately $436,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Petco Health and Wellness by 216.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 604,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,472,000 after acquiring an additional 413,295 shares during the last quarter.

Petco Health and Wellness Price Performance

Shares of WOOF stock opened at $1.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.86. Petco Health and Wellness has a one year low of $1.41 and a one year high of $10.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $2.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.80.

Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Petco Health and Wellness had a negative return on equity of 2.20% and a negative net margin of 20.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Petco Health and Wellness will post -0.23 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WOOF shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Petco Health and Wellness from $3.50 to $2.70 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Petco Health and Wellness from $3.00 to $2.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.50 target price (down previously from $5.00) on shares of Petco Health and Wellness in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Petco Health and Wellness in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Petco Health and Wellness from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Petco Health and Wellness has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.65.

Petco Health and Wellness Company Profile

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc, operates as a health and wellness company, focuses on enhancing the lives of pets, pet parents, and its Petco partners in the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The company provides veterinary care, grooming, training, tele-health, and Vital Care and pet health insurance services, as well as veterinary services through Vetco mobile clinics.