Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) Analysts Recommendations and Insider Trading

Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) stock is presently standing at about $8.57 and lots of equity research firms seem to have a target price set on the stock. The median one-year price target of 11 analysts covering the company is $10.00, which suggests the stock could still rise over 14 percent. The highest analyst price target is $11.50, which implies a rally of 66 percent. And a quick view of analyst notes show that 0 are rating the stock a buy while 1 rate SPLS a strong buy. There are 15 equity research firms advocating a Hold and 0 consider it Sell.

Loop Capital analysts provided their view on Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) recently. The rating firm issued a Hold rating to this company in a research note released on Dec 13, 2016. BofA/Merrill analysts disclosed their opinion on Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) recently. The rating firm gave a Buy rating to this stock in a research note published on May 23, 2016. According to a research note disclosed on May 11, 2016, analysts at UBS have lowered their rating on these shares from Buy to Neutral.

Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) Transactions Roundup

Several insiders were part of recent insider activity for the stock. Its SVP Corporate Controller Conte Mark sold 5,195 company shares for 51790, in a transaction on 2016-12-08. Following the transaction, the SVP Corporate Controller is left with a stake of 80,431 shares, currently valued at $689294. Meanwhile, Director Ferrand Paul-Henri purchased 139 shares worth $1270, through a transaction dated 2016-07-14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider is left with a stake of 39,880 shares, amounting $341771.6. SPLS General Counsel Williams Michael also sold 12,458 shares, at a stock price of $8.59. This transaction occurred on 2016-06-30 totals $107010. After this transaction, the insider’s stake stands at 71,131 shares, with a market value of $609593.

Executives hold 1.25 percent of the stock. Thomas G. Stemberg is one of the biggest insider owners in Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS), according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. The insider owns 3,471,951 shares which have current market value of around $29754620.07.Michael A. Miles,Jr is another major inside shareholder in the company. The insider owns 475,969 shares as of less than 0.1%, currently worth $4079054.33. Mr. Joseph G. Doody is ranked as third insider holder of the stock. This insider holds 465,026 shares with a market value around $3985272.82 as of recent close.

Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) Earnings Outlook

In Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS)’s latest quarter, EPS moved to $0.25 from $0.34 in preceding quarter and revenues reached at $4,560.00M compared to $5,355.00M. Analysts had expected Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) to post net income of about $0.26 per share on $5,036.86M in revenue. Looking ahead, analysts on average predict that earnings for the current quarter would come in in the range of $0.15 to $0.18. That is compared with the $0.17 in EPS it reported during the same period a year ago.