Bridgewater Associates LP Cuts Stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 60.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 15,837 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $2,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WING. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Wingstop by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,499 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Wingstop by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 897 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ:WING opened at $218.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.02. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.60 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $236.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.80.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WING shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.23.

About Wingstop

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.