Short Interest in Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) Drops By 17.3%

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) saw a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,010,000 shares, a decrease of 17.3% from the August 15th total of 9,690,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $7.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.82.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:MLCO opened at $5.61 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.65 and a 200-day moving average of $6.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.03. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a twelve month low of $4.78 and a twelve month high of $10.69.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 11.59% and a negative net margin of 3.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Melco Resorts & Entertainment will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MLCO. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment during the 4th quarter worth about $1,024,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,319,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,715,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,696,000 after acquiring an additional 366,031 shares during the period. NWI Management LP lifted its position in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. NWI Management LP now owns 915,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,597,000 after acquiring an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 29,336,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,442 shares during the period. 39.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, through its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities in Asia. It owns and operates City of Dreams, an integrated casino resort that has 500 gaming tables and 800 gaming machines; approximately 1,400 hotel rooms and suites; a wet stage performance theater with approximately 2,000 seats; approximately 30 restaurants and bars, and 150 retail outlets; and recreation and leisure facilities, including health and fitness clubs, swimming pools, spa and salons, and banquet and meeting facilities.