Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND)

Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 44,589 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 42% compared to the typical daily volume of 31,350 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BYND shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Beyond Meat from $9.00 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Beyond Meat from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beyond Meat

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Beyond Meat by 93.3% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 210,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 101,652 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 17.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 7.8% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 36,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Beyond Meat during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Beyond Meat during the second quarter valued at about $177,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.48% of the company’s stock.

Beyond Meat Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BYND traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.24. The stock had a trading volume of 2,894,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,056,094. Beyond Meat has a twelve month low of $5.13 and a twelve month high of $12.12. The stock has a market cap of $404.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 2.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.91.

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $93.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.81 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.83) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Beyond Meat will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current 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.