Jennison Associates LLC Makes New $13.80 Million Investment in Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO)

Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,117,104 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,796,000. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 1.75% of Avid Bioservices as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CDMO. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices in the 3rd quarter worth $16,489,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Avid Bioservices by 42.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,815,806 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,756 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in Avid Bioservices in the third quarter valued at about $11,953,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in Avid Bioservices by 12,530.9% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 1,003,653 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,422,000 after purchasing an additional 995,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avid Bioservices by 171.3% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112,592 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,661,000 after buying an additional 702,553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.16% of the company’s stock.

Avid Bioservices Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Avid Bioservices stock opened at $12.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $799.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.39. Avid Bioservices, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.90 and a 12-month high of $12.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58.

Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts predict that Avid Bioservices, Inc. will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum downgraded shares of Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens lowered shares of Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $12.50 price objective (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Avid Bioservices in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avid Bioservices has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.25.

Insider Transactions at Avid Bioservices

In related news, CEO Nicholas Stewart Green sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,653 shares in the company, valued at $634,298.84. The trade was a 65.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel R. Hart sold 22,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 349,850 shares of company stock worth $4,288,259 over the last three months. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.