Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $12.50 and last traded at $12.49, with a volume of 207210 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CDMO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $12.50 target price (up from $12.00) on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens cut shares of Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut shares of Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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. According to MarketBeat, Avid Bioservices has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.25.

Avid Bioservices Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $798.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.22 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.35 and its 200-day moving average is $11.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard A. Richieri sold 2,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.37, for a total value of $28,240.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $612,747.95. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel R. Hart sold 22,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.22, for a total transaction of $278,774.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 110,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,356,175.60. This represents a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 349,850 shares of company stock worth $4,288,259 over the last quarter. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avid Bioservices

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CDMO. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in Avid Bioservices by 7.8% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 789,227 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,981,000 after buying an additional 57,111 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Avid Bioservices by 97.3% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 153,070 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,742,000 after acquiring an additional 75,473 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices in the third quarter worth about $16,489,000. Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices in the third quarter worth about $2,107,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avid Bioservices by 98.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 134,598 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 66,653 shares during the last quarter. 97.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.