Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Clarivate with an “underweight” rating and a $1.50 price target, implying 11.56% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly negative: Clarivate has an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $2.77, with one Buy, four Hold, and three Sell ratings.
• Clarivate’s shares traded at $1.70, near the lower end of their 52-week range, while quarterly revenue fell 5.5% year over year to $587.3 million despite slightly exceeding EPS estimates.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage set an "underweight" rating and a $1.50 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential downside of 11.56% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CLVT. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Clarivate from $2.90 to $2.60 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Clarivate from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Clarivate in a report on Monday, September 21st. William Blair lowered shares of Clarivate to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Clarivate from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clarivate has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $2.77.

Clarivate Stock Performance

Shares of CLVT traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.70. The company had a trading volume of 275,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,975,859. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Clarivate has a 52-week low of $1.42 and a 52-week high of $3.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. Clarivate had a positive return on equity of 9.15% and a negative net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $587.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Clarivate will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clarivate news, Director Andrew Snyder sold 2,489,618 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.94, for a total transaction of $4,829,858.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,856,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,481,798.18. This represents a 39.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Cornick acquired 250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.85 per share, for a total transaction of $462,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,700,000. This trade represents a 14.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 22.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clarivate

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Clarivate by 50.4% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 37,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 12,512 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in Clarivate by 120.1% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 170,100 shares of the company's stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 92,811 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Clarivate in the 2nd quarter valued at about $114,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Clarivate in the 2nd quarter valued at about $431,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Clarivate during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.72% of the company's stock.

Clarivate Company Profile

Clarivate Plc NYSE: CLVT provides analytics, data, and workflow solutions to organizations in academia, government, research, life sciences, and intellectual property. Its offerings are designed to help customers evaluate research, manage information, accelerate innovation, and support strategic decision-making.

The company's products include Web of Science research databases and citation analytics, InCites research evaluation tools, Derwent innovation and patent intelligence services, and Cortellis life sciences and drug-development information.

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