Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) Receives “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $15.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target suggests a potential upside of 21.43% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Emergent Biosolutions in a report on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Emergent Biosolutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Emergent Biosolutions from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Emergent Biosolutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.00.

Emergent Biosolutions Trading Up 8.3%

Shares of Emergent Biosolutions stock opened at $12.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $648.78 million, a P/E ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 2.32. Emergent Biosolutions has a 52-week low of $4.02 and a 52-week high of $13.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 5.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.56.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Emergent Biosolutions news, EVP Coleen Glessner sold 30,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $306,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 144,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,443,190. This trade represents a 17.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ronald Richard sold 21,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.97, for a total transaction of $263,148.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 98,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,178,051.49. This trade represents a 18.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Emergent Biosolutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EBS. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Emergent Biosolutions by 68.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,502,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,582 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Emergent Biosolutions by 3.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,382,378 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,013,000 after purchasing an additional 90,216 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Emergent Biosolutions by 15.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,140,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $18,878,000 after purchasing an additional 291,308 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 108.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,998 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,162,000 after purchasing an additional 666,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,132,305 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,987,000 after purchasing an additional 145,632 shares during the last quarter. 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.