Short Interest in Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) Decreases By 8.0%

Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,710,000 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the November 30th total of 11,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avid Bioservices

In other Avid Bioservices news, CEO Nicholas Stewart Green sold 17,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total transaction of $172,588.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,277,862.65. This represents 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 at the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel R. Hart sold 22,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 110,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,356,175.60. The trade was a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,890 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,227 over the last quarter. 3.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avid Bioservices

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Avid Bioservices by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 260,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 19,960 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted 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 acquiring an additional 3,041 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avid Bioservices during the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Avid Bioservices by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 94,682 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 5,408 shares during the period. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its position in Avid Bioservices by 45.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 570,089 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after purchasing an additional 178,992 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.16% of the company’s stock.

Avid Bioservices Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Avid Bioservices stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $12.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,821,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,312,491. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.50. Avid Bioservices has a twelve month low of $5.65 and a twelve month high of $12.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $789.94 million, a P/E ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 1.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CDMO. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $12.50 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens downgraded shares of Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avid Bioservices to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Avid Bioservices in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut Avid Bioservices from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.25.

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.