Verition Fund Management LLC Buys 39,363 Shares of Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) by 264.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,363 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.09% of Avid Bioservices worth $617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices in the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Avid Bioservices in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Avid Bioservices during the 2nd quarter valued at $57,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avid Bioservices in the 2nd quarter worth $80,000. Finally, TradeLink Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices in the second quarter worth $92,000. Institutional investors own 97.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CDMO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens cut Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $12.50 price target (up from $12.00) on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum downgraded shares of Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Avid Bioservices to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued 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 assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.25.

Insider Activity at Avid Bioservices

In other Avid Bioservices news, CEO Nicholas Stewart Green sold 17,173 shares of Avid Bioservices stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total transaction of $172,588.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 226,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,277,862.65. The trade was a 7.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,323 shares of company stock worth $194,208. Corporate insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Avid Bioservices Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CDMO opened at $12.31 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $785.25 million, a PE ratio of -5.42 and a beta of 1.44. Avid Bioservices, Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.50 and a twelve month high of $12.48.

Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.01. Avid Bioservices had a negative net margin of 101.26% and a negative return on equity of 16.53%. The business had revenue of $40.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.50 million. Equities research analysts expect that Avid Bioservices, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current 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.