Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 7,397,950 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 92% from the previous session’s volume of 3,851,896 shares.The stock last traded at $5.14 and had previously closed at $5.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLVT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Clarivate from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair downgraded shares of Clarivate from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Clarivate from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.10.

Clarivate Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.93. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 1.17.

Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19. Clarivate had a negative net margin of 50.00% and a positive return on equity of 9.69%. The firm had revenue of $622.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $640.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Clarivate Plc will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Clarivate announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, December 16th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 12.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 765,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.19 per share, for a total transaction of $3,970,350.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,465,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,983,350. The trade was a 28.33 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 23.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clarivate

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLVT. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in shares of Clarivate by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,192,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,699,000 after buying an additional 1,816,936 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Clarivate by 82.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 202,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 91,384 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Clarivate by 112.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,040,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,387,000 after acquiring an additional 551,838 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clarivate by 707.5% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 157,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 138,031 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Clarivate by 8.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,243,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,443,000 after purchasing an additional 571,289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.72% of the company’s stock.

Clarivate Company Profile

Clarivate Plc operates as an information services provider in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through three segments: Academia & Government, Life Sciences & Healthcare, and Intellectual Property. The company offers Web of Science and InCites, that analyzes and explores the academic research landscape and manages research information; ProQuest One and Ebook Central that provides comprehensive content collections to institutions in a cost-effective manner; and Alma and Polaris, that manages academic resources and services, connect users, and support research publications.