Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Petco Health and Wellness Call Options (NASDAQ:WOOF)

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 27,231 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 572% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,052 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WOOF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Petco Health and Wellness from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Petco Health and Wellness in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Petco Health and Wellness from $2.75 to $3.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Petco Health and Wellness from $2.50 to $3.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Petco Health and Wellness in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.49.

Petco Health and Wellness Price Performance

NASDAQ:WOOF opened at $4.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.73. Petco Health and Wellness has a 1-year low of $1.41 and a 1-year high of $4.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -0.83 and a beta of 1.88.

Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02). Petco Health and Wellness had a negative net margin of 21.27% and a negative return on equity of 4.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Petco Health and Wellness will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Petco Health and Wellness

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Petco Health and Wellness by 15.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,208,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,554 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Petco Health and Wellness during the first quarter worth $1,260,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Petco Health and Wellness during the first quarter worth $309,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Petco Health and Wellness during the first quarter worth $588,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Petco Health and Wellness during the second quarter worth $81,000.

Petco Health and Wellness Company Profile

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.