Evotec (NASDAQ:EVO) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Evotec SE (NASDAQ:EVO) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $3.01, but opened at $3.10. Evotec shares last traded at $3.06, with a volume of 19,522 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Evotec from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered Evotec from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Evotec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $8.70 to $3.80 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on Evotec from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Evotec currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.93.

Evotec Trading Up 4.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Evotec

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Novo Holdings A S purchased a new stake in Evotec in the second quarter valued at $71,183,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Evotec in the first quarter valued at $188,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in Evotec in the second quarter valued at $87,000. Finally, DCF Advisers LLC raised its position in Evotec by 140.5% in the second quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 114,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 67,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.81% of the company’s stock.

Evotec Company Profile

Evotec SE operates as drug discovery and development partner for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry worldwide. The company is developing pharmaceutical products in various therapeutic areas, such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, CNS diseases, diabetes, fibrosis, immunology, infectious diseases, kidney diseases, liver diseases, pain and inflammation, rare diseases, respiratory diseases, tuberculosis, and women’s health.