Royce & Associates LP Grows Stock Holdings in Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 789,227 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,111 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Avid Bioservices were worth $8,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Avid Bioservices during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices during the 2nd quarter worth $57,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices during the 2nd quarter worth $80,000. TradeLink Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices during the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Avid Bioservices by 28.4% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,741 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,041 shares during the period. 97.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avid Bioservices Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CDMO opened at $12.14 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $10.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.60. Avid Bioservices, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.07 and a 52-week high of $12.48. The firm has a market cap of $774.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.35 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nicholas Stewart Green sold 17,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total transaction of $172,588.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 226,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,277,862.65. This represents a 7.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,323 shares of company stock valued at $194,208. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Avid Bioservices to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Craig Hallum downgraded Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $12.50 price target (up from $12.00) on shares of Avid Bioservices in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.63.

Avid Bioservices Profile

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.