Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• Nuvation Bio shares gapped up ahead of Tuesday’s open, rising from a prior close of $4.80 to an opening price of $5.08.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock: while several firms still have buy or outperform ratings, Zacks downgraded it to strong sell and UBS cut its price target to $7.00. Overall, the consensus target is $12.50, suggesting upside from current levels.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.01 EPS versus expectations for a loss and $83.23 million in revenue versus $66.22 million expected. However, insiders have also been selling shares, even as institutional ownership remains high at 61.67%.

Shares of Nuvation Bio Inc. (NYSE:NUVB - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.80, but opened at $5.08. Nuvation Bio shares last traded at $5.01, with a volume of 2,608,534 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Nuvation Bio from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Nuvation Bio from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Nuvation Bio in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Nuvation Bio in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Nuvation Bio in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nuvation Bio currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.50.

Nuvation Bio Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.97 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.94. The company has a quick ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 7.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $83.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.22 million. Nuvation Bio had a negative return on equity of 44.10% and a negative net margin of 102.06%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nuvation Bio Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nuvation Bio

In other news, insider Dongfang Liu sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.02, for a total value of $251,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 18,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,360. This represents a 73.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kerry Wentworth sold 36,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $184,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 53,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,530. The trade was a 40.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 286,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,118 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 30.11% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuvation Bio

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nuvation Bio by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,555,606 shares of the company's stock worth $139,378,000 after purchasing an additional 101,011 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nuvation Bio by 52.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,774,003 shares of the company's stock worth $6,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,131 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nuvation Bio by 19.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,321,249 shares of the company's stock worth $12,276,000 after purchasing an additional 551,508 shares during the period. Aisling Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nuvation Bio by 16.5% during the third quarter. Aisling Capital Management LP now owns 2,960,659 shares of the company's stock worth $10,954,000 after purchasing an additional 419,650 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Nuvation Bio by 852.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,708,553 shares of the company's stock worth $24,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,424,109 shares during the period. 61.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nuvation Bio Company Profile

Nuvation Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing small-molecule therapies for patients with cancer. The company employs an integrated research and development platform that spans target identification, preclinical evaluation, process chemistry, and early-stage clinical trials. By centralizing these capabilities, Nuvation Bio aims to accelerate the translation of promising drug candidates from laboratory research to first-in-human studies.

The company's pipeline comprises multiple oncology programs, with small-molecule kinase inhibitors and targeted agents in Phase 1 development for both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.

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