New York State Teachers Retirement System Makes New Investment in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW)

New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 732,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,187,000 after purchasing an additional 150,619 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 34.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 372,168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,863,000 after buying an additional 94,986 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 261.3% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 105,847 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,638,000 after acquiring an additional 76,551 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 296.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,880 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 35,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $719,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BBW shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Build-A-Bear Workshop from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from $38.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Price Performance

Shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop stock opened at $38.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.25. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.22 and a fifty-two week high of $48.23. The firm has a market cap of $515.71 million, a P/E ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 1.50.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a return on equity of 38.35% and a net margin of 10.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Eric R. Fencl sold 9,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $365,500.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 128,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,156,001.12. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lesli Rotenberg sold 2,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.10, for a total value of $101,640.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $481,856.40. This trade represents a 17.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 175,713 shares of company stock valued at $7,580,622. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Profile

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc operates as a multi-channel retailer of plush animals and related products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Direct-to-Consumer, Commercial, and International Franchising. Its merchandise comprises various styles of plush products to be stuffed, pre-stuffed plush products, and sounds and scents that can be added to the stuffed animals, as well as range of clothing, shoes and accessories, and other toy and novelty items, including family sleepwear.