Traders Purchase Large Volume of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Call Options (NASDAQ:MLCO)

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 10,232 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,072% compared to the typical daily volume of 873 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 1,819.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,497,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,748,000 after acquiring an additional 5,211,263 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,198,000. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,665,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 257.8% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,864,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 71,281.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,206,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203,311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.62% of the company’s stock.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:MLCO traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $5.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 633,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,380,259. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a 52-week low of $4.55 and a 52-week high of $10.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.91 and a 200-day moving average of $7.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MLCO shares. UBS Group raised Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $9.50 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.70 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Texas Capital upgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Melco Resorts & Entertainment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.06.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Company Profile

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MLCO) is a developer, owner and operator of integrated resort destinations in Asia and Europe. The company’s portfolio spans casino gaming, hotel accommodations, retail, dining and entertainment facilities. Melco’s properties feature a mix of luxury hotels, award-winning restaurants, high-limit gaming salons and entertainment venues, catering to a broad range of leisure and business travelers.

In Macau, Melco owns and operates flagship properties including City of Dreams Macau, Altira Macau and Studio City.