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

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE:BNED) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 3,876 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 238% compared to the average daily volume of 1,148 put options.

Barnes & Noble Education Trading Up 10.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BNED traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $0.24. The stock had a trading volume of 2,518,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,494,894. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $0.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $0.93. Barnes & Noble Education has a one year low of $0.18 and a one year high of $2.26.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PEAK6 Investments LLC lifted its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 258.6% in the third quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 46,506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 33,539 shares during the last quarter. Belvedere Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Greenhaven Road Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Road Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,256,342 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,832,000 after acquiring an additional 90,003 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BNED. Craig Hallum reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $1.25 price objective (down from $3.00) on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th.

About Barnes & Noble Education

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.