Mesoblast Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:MESO)

Mesoblast Limited (NASDAQ:MESO) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 3,838 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 350% compared to the average volume of 852 put options.

Institutional Trading of Mesoblast

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Mesoblast in the 2nd quarter valued at $562,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Mesoblast by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 3,099 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new position in Mesoblast in the 2nd quarter worth about $95,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in Mesoblast in the third quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Mesoblast by 15.0% during the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 11,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Mesoblast Price Performance

MESO opened at $14.63 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.48 and its 200-day moving average is $8.28. Mesoblast has a 1-year low of $1.61 and a 1-year high of $19.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MESO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Maxim Group raised shares of Mesoblast from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mesoblast from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Mesoblast from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Mesoblast in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mesoblast from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.50.

Mesoblast Company Profile

Mesoblast Limited engages in the development of regenerative medicine products in Australia, the United States, Singapore, and Switzerland. The company offers products in the areas of cardiovascular, spine orthopedic disorder, oncology, hematology, and immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases. Its proprietary regenerative medicine technology platform is based on specialized cells known as mesenchymal lineage cells.