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

Key Points

• Traders bought an unusually large volume of call options — 158,966 calls, about 69% above the daily average — and BYND jumped roughly 14.6% to $0.90 on a heavy volume surge (141.1M vs. avg 38.5M).
• CFO Lubi Kutua sold 419,042 shares at $0.60 under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan, cutting her stake by 6.79%; corporate insiders now own about 1.6% of the company.
• Several institutions (UBS, Geode, Charles Schwab, etc.) markedly increased holdings, lifting institutional ownership to 52.48%, while analysts still rate the stock a "Strong Sell" with a consensus target near $0.83 after multiple downgrades.

Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 158,966 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 69% compared to the average daily volume of 93,859 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Lubi Kutua sold 419,042 shares of Beyond Meat stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.60, for a total transaction of $251,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,749,967 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,449,980.20. This trade represents a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BYND. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 674.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 9,788,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,027,000 after buying an additional 8,525,183 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 445.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,927,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,142,000 after buying an additional 8,105,718 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 497.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,383,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,774,000 after buying an additional 2,816,778 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 38.0% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,917,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,515,000 after buying an additional 804,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP grew its holdings in shares of Beyond Meat by 669.3% during the fourth quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 655,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 570,536 shares during the last quarter. 52.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BYND has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Beyond Meat from $4.00 to $1.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Beyond Meat from $1.00 to $0.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Beyond Meat from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Beyond Meat in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Beyond Meat presently has an average rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus target price of $0.83.

Beyond Meat Stock Up 14.6%

BYND traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $0.90. The company had a trading volume of 141,100,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,522,418. Beyond Meat has a 52 week low of $0.50 and a 52 week high of $7.69. The company has a market capitalization of $415.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.31 and a beta of 2.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $0.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.07.

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.17). Beyond Meat had a net margin of 43.98% and a negative return on equity of 37.44%. The company had revenue of $61.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.00 million. Research analysts predict that Beyond Meat will post -2.1 EPS for the current year.

Beyond Meat Company Profile

Beyond Meat, Inc NASDAQ: BYND develops, manufactures and sells plant-based meat substitutes designed to replicate the taste, texture and appearance of animal-based proteins. Since its founding in 2009 by Ethan Brown and initial public offering in 2019, the company has focused on leveraging proprietary technology and ingredient blends to produce a suite of products that cater to both retail and foodservice channels. Beyond Meat's mission centers on offering more sustainable protein options by reducing reliance on livestock farming and its associated environmental footprint.

The company's product portfolio includes Beyond Burger, Beyond Sausage, Beyond Beef and Beyond Chicken, each formulated to appeal to a broad range of consumers seeking meat alternatives without compromising on flavor or cooking versatility.

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