Beyond Meat Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:BYND)

Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 35,321 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 75% compared to the average volume of 20,127 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Beyond Meat news, insider Ethan Brown sold 313,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.75, for a total value of $1,173,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,703,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,387,330. This represents a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 8.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beyond Meat

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,432,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,387,000 after purchasing an additional 18,438 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Beyond Meat by 128.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,302,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,899,000 after buying an additional 733,168 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 619,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after buying an additional 263,337 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Beyond Meat by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 595,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 52,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Beyond Meat by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 527,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after acquiring an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. 52.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Beyond Meat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BYND opened at $3.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $205.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.75 and a beta of 2.36. Beyond Meat has a 12 month low of $2.86 and a 12 month high of $10.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.03.

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.65) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $76.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.08 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Beyond Meat will post -2.1 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Beyond Meat from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Beyond Meat from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $4.92.

About Beyond Meat

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.