Short Interest in Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) Increases By 61.6%

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 9,390,000 shares, a growth of 61.6% from the February 13th total of 5,810,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the fourth quarter worth $28,989,000. Eminence Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 7,735,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,791,000 after buying an additional 1,402,619 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 206.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,009,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,633,000 after buying an additional 1,353,617 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 1,240.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,342,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,771,000 after buying an additional 1,241,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 92.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,398,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,886,000 after buying an additional 1,150,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MLCO shares. Citigroup cut shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $10.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $6.70 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Melco Resorts & Entertainment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.24.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Stock Up 5.0 %

NASDAQ:MLCO opened at $5.72 on Monday. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a 52 week low of $4.78 and a 52 week high of $8.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5.67 and a 200 day moving average of $6.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.68, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.02.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Company Profile

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.