Wall Street Zen Downgrades Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO) to Hold

Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised Harvard Bioscience to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. New Street Research set a $6.00 price objective on Harvard Bioscience in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Harvard Bioscience from $20.00 to $6.00 and set a “speculative buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Harvard Bioscience in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

Harvard Bioscience Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBIO opened at $5.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.66. The company has a market capitalization of $23.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. Harvard Bioscience has a twelve month low of $2.81 and a twelve month high of $9.50.

Insider Activity at Harvard Bioscience

In other news, Director Stephen J. Denelsky acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.87 per share, for a total transaction of $48,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,270. This trade represents a 90.91% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Snider bought 8,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.85 per share, for a total transaction of $41,103.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,200. This trade represents a 36.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 36,000 shares of company stock worth $177,354. 20.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Harvard Bioscience during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Harvard Bioscience by 210.4% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 43,467 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 29,462 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Harvard Bioscience by 491.9% during the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 70,736 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 58,785 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Harvard Bioscience by 291.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 49,751 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 37,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Harvard Bioscience in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.87% of the company’s stock.

Harvard Bioscience Company Profile

Harvard Bioscience, Inc develops, manufactures and distributes life science research instruments and consumables used by academic, biopharmaceutical and government laboratories worldwide. The company’s product portfolio spans cellular physiology, microfluidics, electrophysiology and lab automation, providing tools that enable researchers to study everything from cell behavior and organ function to drug delivery and tissue mechanics.

Through its operating units—most notably Harvard Apparatus, BTX, Radnoti and Warner Instruments—Harvard Bioscience offers a diverse range of scientific equipment including precision pumps, stereotaxic instruments, electroporation and gene delivery systems, perfusion systems and microinjection tools.