Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Manchester United Call Options (NYSE:MANU)

Manchester United Ltd. (NYSE:MANU) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 4,449 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 495% compared to the average daily volume of 748 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Manchester United

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MANU. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Manchester United by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Manchester United by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Manchester United by 127.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Manchester United during the first quarter valued at $137,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Manchester United during the first quarter valued at $142,000. 23.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manchester United Stock Performance

MANU traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 133,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 271,931. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of -37.50 and a beta of 0.59. Manchester United has a fifty-two week low of $12.05 and a fifty-two week high of $18.42.

Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 6th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.29. Manchester United had a negative net margin of 10.09% and a negative return on equity of 22.40%. The firm had revenue of $203.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manchester United will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Manchester United from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 31st.

Manchester United Company Profile

Manchester United plc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a professional sports team in the United Kingdom. It operates Manchester United Football Club, a professional football club. The company develops marketing and sponsorship relationships with international and regional companies to leverage its brand.