GoPro shares shot up today after it was revealed that Wellington Management increased its stake dramatically in just the last few months.
GoPro stock on the rise
A regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission now shows the firm’s stake at 12% or 7.14 million shares. Previously, Wellington held a 7.4% stake in the action camera maker. As of this writing, shares of GoPro were up 3.39% to $45.18 per share. The stock hasn’t topped $45 per share since February.
Also today, GoPro announced that it will release the earnings results from its March quarter on April 28 after the markets close. The company will host its earnings call and live webcast on the same day at 5 p.m. Eastern. Analysts are expecting GoPro to report earnings of 18 cents per share on $341 million in revenue for the quarter.
Is Carl Icahn buying into GoPro?
Earlier this week, it was also reported that activist investor Carl Icahn may be building a stake in GoPro. If Icahn is indeed getting involved, then it’s only a matter of time before he starts rocking the boat. The question now is what he sees in GoPro that makes him think it’s undervalued. It could be as simple as the fact that shares are down 50% since their all-time high, but with Icahn, there’s usually more to it than that.
Schaeffer’s Investment Research noted an increase in GoPro options changing hands. The firm found that calls were trading at more than twice the rate of puts. The most active contract was the April 43 call. The contract expires on April 17, and buyers are betting that shares of GoPro will pass $44.45 by then, which of course it has today, making those call buyers happy.
GoPro CEO exercises RSUs
Earlier this week, GoPro CEO Nicholas Woodman exercised some of his restricted stock units. He converted 83,332 shares into Class B stock and then into Class A stock. At today’s increased share price, Woodman’s stock units are worth about $3.75 million. After exercising those stock units in a transaction on April 6, Woodman owns about 39.04 million shares worth about $175.7 million.
GoPro insiders have been unloading shares of the action camera manufacturer rapidly since the recent lockup expiration. It appears as if the tidal wave of insider share sales has come to an end, however, at least for now
