Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Biohaven (NYSE:BHVN)

Key Points

• Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE:BHVN) experienced a significant surge in options trading, with traders purchasing 4,259 call options, an increase of 89% compared to its average daily volume.
• Institutional investors hold 88.78% of Biohaven's stock, with several hedge funds notably increasing their stakes during the second quarter.
• Biohaven's shares rose 8.5% to $14.64, despite the company posting earnings per share that met analyst expectations at ($1.94) for the last quarter.

Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE:BHVN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 4,259 call options on the company. This is an increase of 89% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,255 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BHVN. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Biohaven in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Biohaven from $63.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Biohaven from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial raised Biohaven from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Biohaven from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $51.80.

Biohaven Stock Down 7.6%

Biohaven stock traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,475,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,234,180. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 3.82 and a quick ratio of 3.82. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $14.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.87 and a beta of 1.02. Biohaven has a 52-week low of $12.79 and a 52-week high of $55.70.

Biohaven (NYSE:BHVN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($1.94) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($1.94). On average, sell-side analysts expect that Biohaven will post -8.9 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Biohaven

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHVN. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Biohaven in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Biohaven by 319.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Biohaven by 53.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Biohaven by 84,800.0% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,547 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Biohaven by 26.1% in the second quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,800 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.78% of the company's stock.

Biohaven Company Profile

Biohaven Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies for immunology, neuroscience, and oncology worldwide. The company's pipeline products include Troriluzole, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric illnesses; BHV-5500 that blocks glutamate signaling mediated by post-synaptic NMDA receptors; Taldefgrobep Alfa, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy and obesity; BHV-7000, a candidate in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of focal and generalized epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder; BHV-2100 that is in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of migraines and neuropathic pain; and BHV-8000, a product candidate in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of early Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, sclerosis, and amyloid-related imaging abnormalities.