Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND)

Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 51,036 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof219% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,007 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Beyond Meat in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Beyond Meat from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Beyond Meat from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $3.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYND. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Beyond Meat by 305.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 5,940 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in Beyond Meat during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Beyond Meat during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Beyond Meat during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in Beyond Meat by 2,358.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 18,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 17,971 shares in the last quarter. 52.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Beyond Meat Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of Beyond Meat stock traded up $0.1250 during trading on Monday, hitting $2.5750. The stock had a trading volume of 2,745,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,697,356. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.15. Beyond Meat has a 1 year low of $2.22 and a 1 year high of $7.60. The company has a market capitalization of $197.37 million, a PE ratio of -1.19 and a beta of 2.22.

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $74.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.53) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Beyond Meat will post -2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Beyond Meat Company Profile

Beyond Meat, Inc, a plant-based meat company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells plant-based meat products in the United States and internationally. The company sells a range of plant-based meat products across the platforms of beef, pork, and poultry. It sells its products through grocery, mass merchandiser, club stores, and natural retailer channels, as well as various food-away-from-home channels, including restaurants, foodservice outlets, and schools.