Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on BARK (NYSE:BARK)

BARK, Inc. (NYSE:BARK) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 7,439 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 839% compared to the average volume of 792 call options.

Insider Activity at BARK

In other news, Director Jim Mcginty sold 60,000 shares of BARK stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.63, for a total value of $37,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 439,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $276,811.92. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Henrik Werdelin sold 50,000 shares of BARK stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.65, for a total value of $32,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,890,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,078,750.25. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 14.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BARK

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in BARK by 1,150.5% in the second quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,974,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after buying an additional 1,816,345 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BARK by 43.6% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 230,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd raised its stake in shares of BARK by 195.5% during the 2nd quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 47,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 31,673 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in BARK in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Shay Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of BARK by 133.6% in the third quarter. Shay Capital LLC now owns 4,432,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,682,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534,722 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.76% of the company’s stock.

BARK Stock Performance

NYSE:BARK opened at $0.92 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $0.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.21 million, a P/E ratio of -4.61 and a beta of 1.90. BARK has a fifty-two week low of $0.53 and a fifty-two week high of $2.04.

BARK (NYSE:BARK) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $106.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.57 million. BARK had a negative net margin of 7.81% and a negative return on equity of 23.45%. On average, research analysts forecast that BARK will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BARK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BARK in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of BARK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BARK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BARK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.50.

BARK Company Profile

BARK is a consumer products and services company focused on the canine market, offering a suite of subscription-based and direct‐to‐consumer offerings designed to meet the everyday needs of dogs and their owners. The company’s core business revolves around carefully curated boxes of toys, treats and chews, which are delivered monthly to subscribers through its flagship BarkBox service. Over time, BARK has expanded its reach beyond subscription, tapping into e-commerce and wholesale channels to broaden its customer base.

In addition to BarkBox, the company operates BarkShop, an online storefront that allows customers to purchase toys, grooming supplies and nutrition products on an a la carte basis.