Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF)

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 22,057 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,194% compared to the average daily volume of 1,704 put options.

Institutional Trading of Petco Health and Wellness

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Petco Health and Wellness during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Petco Health and Wellness in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Petco Health and Wellness by 1,254.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 14,172 shares during the last quarter. Grey Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in Petco Health and Wellness during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Petco Health and Wellness in the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000.

Petco Health and Wellness Price Performance

Shares of WOOF opened at $1.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $2.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.80. Petco Health and Wellness has a twelve month low of $1.41 and a twelve month high of $10.76. 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 (NASDAQ:WOOF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The firm 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%. Petco Health and Wellness’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Petco Health and Wellness will post -0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WOOF shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Petco Health and Wellness from $3.50 to $2.70 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Petco Health and Wellness from $3.00 to $2.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.50 price objective (down previously from $5.00) on shares of Petco Health and Wellness in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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 report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Petco Health and Wellness from $3.00 to $2.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.65.

About Petco Health and Wellness

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.