Versor Investments LP Makes New Investment in Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO)

Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 270,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,338,000. Avid Bioservices makes up about 0.6% of Versor Investments LP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Versor Investments LP owned about 0.42% of Avid Bioservices as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Avid Bioservices by 42.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,815,806 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $43,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142,756 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avid Bioservices by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 2,093,991 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,830,000 after purchasing an additional 273,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avid Bioservices by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,466,155 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,688,000 after purchasing an additional 34,328 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Avid Bioservices in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,489,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Avid Bioservices by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,124,351 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,886,000 after buying an additional 11,759 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avid Bioservices

In other news, CEO Nicholas Stewart Green sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.28, for a total transaction of $1,228,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,653 shares in the company, valued at $634,298.84. This trade represents a 65.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard A. Richieri sold 2,283 shares of Avid Bioservices stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.37, for a total transaction of $28,240.71. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $612,747.95. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 349,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,288,259. 3.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CDMO. Craig Hallum downgraded Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $12.50 price objective (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Avid Bioservices in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens cut shares of Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Avid Bioservices in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.25.

Avid Bioservices Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Avid Bioservices stock opened at $12.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.57. The stock has a market cap of $799.18 million, a P/E ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.39. Avid Bioservices, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.90 and a 1-year high of $12.51.

Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.14). Avid Bioservices had a negative return on equity of 33.18% and a negative net margin of 101.07%. Analysts predict that Avid Bioservices, Inc. will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Avid Bioservices

Avid Bioservices, Inc operates as a contract development and manufacturing organization for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries in the United States. It provides process development and current good manufacturing practice clinical and commercial manufacturing services of biologics, including clinical and commercial drug substance manufacturing, bulk packaging, release and stability testing, regulatory submission and support, upstream and downstream development and optimization, analytical methods development, cell line development, testing, and characterization services.