Bank of America Begins Coverage on Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY)

Investment analysts at Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.36% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WRBY. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Warby Parker in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Warby Parker from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on Warby Parker from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Warby Parker in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Warby Parker from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.82.

Warby Parker Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRBY opened at $29.11 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.83. Warby Parker has a one year low of $14.96 and a one year high of $31.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,456.23 and a beta of 1.96.

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $242.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.44 million. Warby Parker had a return on equity of 2.30% and a net margin of 0.15%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Warby Parker will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Warby Parker news, Director Youngme E. Moon sold 10,000 shares of Warby Parker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.53, for a total value of $265,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,398.33. The trade was a 27.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Teresa Briggs sold 5,000 shares of Warby Parker stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.94, for a total value of $129,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 48,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,268,025.02. This represents a 9.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 203,040 shares of company stock worth $5,470,026 in the last three months. 16.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warby Parker

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Warby Parker by 101.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 171,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,122,000 after acquiring an additional 86,053 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Warby Parker by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 52,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warby Parker by 96.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,888,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,433,000 after purchasing an additional 929,073 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Warby Parker in the 1st quarter valued at about $252,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warby Parker by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 257,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,685,000 after purchasing an additional 38,395 shares in the last quarter. 93.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Warby Parker

Warby Parker, Inc (NYSE: WRBY) is a U.S.-based eyewear company that designs, manufactures and sells prescription glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses through a direct-to-consumer model. Since its founding, the company has combined online and brick-and-mortar channels to streamline the customer experience, offering features such as virtual try-on technology and a home try-on program that allows consumers to sample frames before purchase.

Established in 2010 by Wharton graduates Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raider, Warby Parker set out to disrupt the traditional optical market by controlling the entire supply chain—from frame design and lens production to warehousing and distribution.