Barnes & Noble Education Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:BNED)

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE:BNED) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 2,852 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 192% compared to the typical daily volume of 976 call options.

Barnes & Noble Education Price Performance

Shares of BNED opened at $0.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $12.71 million, a PE ratio of -0.15 and a beta of 1.81. Barnes & Noble Education has a twelve month low of $0.18 and a twelve month high of $2.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $0.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $0.99.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $456.67 million during the quarter. Barnes & Noble Education had a negative return on equity of 51.52% and a negative net margin of 5.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BNED. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Wednesday. Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and set a $1.25 price objective (down previously from $3.00) on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 41,082 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 16,905 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 16.9% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 105,393 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 15,206 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 3.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,442,583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,744,000 after acquiring an additional 86,536 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd bought a new position in Barnes & Noble Education during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 75.4% during the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 22,328 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 9,601 shares during the last quarter. 38.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc operates bookstores for college and university campuses, and K-12 institutions in the United States. It operates through Retail and Wholesale segments. The company sells and rents new and used print textbooks, digital textbooks, and publisher hosted digital courseware through physical and virtual bookstores, as well as directly to students through Textbooks.com.