Wall Street Zen Downgrades Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) to Hold

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Emergent Biosolutions Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of Emergent Biosolutions stock opened at $8.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.68. The company has a market cap of $464.09 million, a P/E ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.97. Emergent Biosolutions has a fifty-two week low of $4.02 and a fifty-two week high of $13.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 5.66.

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.42. The business had revenue of $140.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.55 million. Emergent Biosolutions had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 24.63%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Emergent Biosolutions will post -0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Emergent Biosolutions

In other news, Director Keith Katkin sold 7,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.30, for a total transaction of $49,417.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 86,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $544,515.30. The trade was a 8.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Emergent Biosolutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EBS. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 68.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,502,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,582 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 666,708 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 70.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,539,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,722,000 after purchasing an additional 638,995 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 313.5% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 833,316 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 631,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,104,058 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,554,000 after purchasing an additional 444,790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.40% of the company’s stock.

Emergent Biosolutions Company Profile

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.