Morgan Stanley Lowers Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Price Target to $375.00

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $389.00 to $375.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 41.50% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on WING. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.95.

Wingstop Price Performance

WING stock opened at $265.02 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $291.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $341.94. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $258.50 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.81.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Wingstop by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $342,763,000 after acquiring an additional 22,552 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Wingstop by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,150,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,893,000 after acquiring an additional 262,229 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Wingstop by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $358,571,000 after acquiring an additional 12,549 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Wingstop by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,020,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $227,852,000 after purchasing an additional 154,055 shares during the last quarter.

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.