Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 33,553 Shares of GameStop Corp. $GME

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 919,960 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 33,553 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of GameStop worth $21,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GME. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of GameStop by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,340,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,431,000 after acquiring an additional 92,996 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of GameStop during the 4th quarter worth about $1,745,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of GameStop by 13,283.1% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 129,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 128,713 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in GameStop during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,753,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in GameStop by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,340,000 after purchasing an additional 180,356 shares during the last quarter. 29.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of GameStop from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised GameStop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Mark Haymond Robinson sold 3,957 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.62, for a total transaction of $89,507.34. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 104,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,356,777.80. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Daniel William Moore sold 7,085 shares of GameStop stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.38, for a total transaction of $158,562.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 115,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,576,497.50. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,125 shares of company stock valued at $406,587. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

GameStop Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:GME opened at $21.74 on Wednesday. GameStop Corp. has a twelve month low of $19.93 and a twelve month high of $28.10. The company has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.89. The company has a current ratio of 12.40, a quick ratio of 11.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $835.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.63 million. GameStop had a net margin of 20.45% and a return on equity of 13.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share.

GameStop Profile

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) is a global specialty retailer focused on video games, gaming consoles, consumer electronics and related accessories. The company operates a network of physical retail stores alongside an e-commerce platform, offering new and pre-owned products spanning the latest game software, hardware, collectibles and lifestyle merchandise. GameStop’s retail footprint is complemented by digital marketplaces for trade-ins and online purchases, as well as a membership program that provides exclusive content and rewards.

Originally founded in 1984 as Babbage’s in Dallas, Texas, the company adopted the GameStop name in 1999 following its merger with Software Etc.