SEC Begins Inquiry into Take-Two's Options

The SEC inquiry also comes little more than a year after the company settled a previous formal investigation by the regulatory agency. That investigation had to do with charges that Take-Two had fraudulently inflated its reported sales to meet Wall Street targets.

To settle those charges, the company paid a $7.5 million fine and four former executives, including former CEO Ryan Brant, paid a combined $6.4 million in penalties. Although the company and the executives didn't admit any wrongdoing, the settlement also barred Brant from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years.

In recent trading, shares of Take-Two were off 53 cents, or 5.3%, to $9.57, just two cents more than its 52-week low set earlier in Monday's session.