Barclays PLC Acquires 55,215 Shares of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS)

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS - Free Report) by 140.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,523 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 55,215 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.17% of Emergent BioSolutions worth $904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EBS. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 306,286 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,928,000 after buying an additional 90,113 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Emergent BioSolutions by 70.9% during the 4th 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Emergent BioSolutions by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 766,537 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,328,000 after purchasing an additional 24,985 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Emergent BioSolutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,831,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 590,862 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,651,000 after purchasing an additional 8,904 shares during the period. 78.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on EBS. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Emergent BioSolutions in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Emergent BioSolutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th.

Emergent BioSolutions Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE EBS opened at $4.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $268.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.21 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Emergent BioSolutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.84 and a 12 month high of $15.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.00.

Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.40. Emergent BioSolutions had a negative net margin of 18.55% and a negative return on equity of 9.91%. The company had revenue of $194.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $254.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.77) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Emergent BioSolutions Inc. will post -0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emergent BioSolutions announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to repurchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Neal Franklin Fowler sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.83, for a total transaction of $204,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 101,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $589,413. This trade represents a 25.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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