Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) Director Ronald Richard Sells 21,984 Shares

Emergent Biosolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) Director Ronald Richard sold 21,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.97, for a total transaction of $263,148.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 98,417 shares in the company, valued at $1,178,051.49. This represents a 18.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Emergent Biosolutions Price Performance

NYSE:EBS traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $11.63. 495,213 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,193,508. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.37. Emergent Biosolutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.02 and a 52-week high of $13.41. The company has a market cap of $610.55 million, a P/E ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a current ratio of 5.76, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter. Emergent Biosolutions had a net margin of 9.62% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The firm had revenue of $222.50 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Emergent Biosolutions Inc. will post -0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EBS. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Emergent Biosolutions in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Emergent Biosolutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Emergent Biosolutions from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Emergent Biosolutions in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

Institutional Trading of Emergent Biosolutions

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EBS. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 313.5% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 833,316 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 631,794 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Emergent Biosolutions by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 174,933 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 38,600 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Emergent Biosolutions by 12.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,090,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,301,000 after buying an additional 121,583 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Emergent Biosolutions by 108.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,998 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,162,000 after buying an additional 666,708 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Emergent Biosolutions during the second quarter worth about $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.40% of the company’s stock.

About Emergent Biosolutions

Emergent BioSolutions Inc, a life sciences company, provides preparedness and response solutions for accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats in the United States. The company offers NARCAN Nasal Spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vaxchora vaccine for the prevention of cholera; Vivotif vaccine for oral administration for the prevention of typhoid fever; Anthrasil for the treatment of inhalational anthrax; BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; CYFENDUS for post-exposure prophylaxis of disease following suspected or confirmed exposure to Bacillus anthracis; and Raxibacumab injection for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax.