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

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 5,015 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 343% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,133 put options.

Institutional Trading of Melco Resorts & Entertainment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 67.3% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,198,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,352,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700,980 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 8,103,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,313,000 after purchasing an additional 341,528 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,015,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,700,000 after purchasing an additional 846,504 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment during the 3rd quarter worth $35,665,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 71,281.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,206,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,233,000 after buying an additional 2,203,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.62% of the company’s stock.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Price Performance

Melco Resorts & Entertainment stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.68. 1,122,559 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,554,309. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.66. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a 12 month low of $4.55 and a 12 month high of $10.15.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.10. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 23.00% and a net margin of 2.06%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Melco Resorts & Entertainment will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Melco Resorts & Entertainment presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.40.

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.