Barnes & Noble Education Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BNED)

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE:BNED) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 2,852 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 192% compared to the average volume of 976 call options.

Barnes & Noble Education Trading Down 64.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BNED opened at $0.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $0.74 and its 200-day moving average is $0.99. The company has a market cap of $13.29 million, a P/E ratio of -0.16 and a beta of 1.82. Barnes & Noble Education has a 52-week low of $0.18 and a 52-week high of $2.26.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter. Barnes & Noble Education had a negative return on equity of 51.52% and a negative net margin of 5.22%. The business had revenue of $456.67 million during the quarter.

Institutional Trading of Barnes & Noble Education

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PEAK6 Investments LLC increased its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 258.6% in the 3rd quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 46,506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 33,539 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 111.7% during the 3rd quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 42,202 shares in the last quarter. Belvedere Trading LLC bought a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. 38.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Friday, January 12th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $1.25 target price (down previously from $3.00) on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 28th.

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc operates bookstores for college and university campuses, and K-12 institutions in the United States. It operates through Retail and Wholesale segments. The company sells and rents new and used print textbooks, digital textbooks, and publisher hosted digital courseware through physical and virtual bookstores, as well as directly to students through Textbooks.com.