Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ:MRVI)

Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVI) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 1,002 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,791% compared to the average daily volume of 53 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Maravai LifeSciences from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $7.00 to $4.25 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Maravai LifeSciences from $17.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Maravai LifeSciences in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Maravai LifeSciences from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Maravai LifeSciences in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.28.

Maravai LifeSciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRVI opened at $4.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 10.74 and a quick ratio of 9.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.01 and a beta of -0.08. Maravai LifeSciences has a 1-year low of $4.28 and a 1-year high of $11.56.

Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ:MRVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $65.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.58 million. Maravai LifeSciences had a negative net margin of 81.13% and a negative return on equity of 6.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Maravai LifeSciences will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Maravai LifeSciences

In related news, insider Carl Hull acquired 175,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.64 per share, for a total transaction of $987,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 175,000 shares in the company, valued at $987,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Kurt Oreshack sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.03, for a total value of $125,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 167,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,118.54. This represents a 12.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Maravai LifeSciences during the second quarter worth $311,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Maravai LifeSciences during the 3rd quarter worth $256,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Maravai LifeSciences by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 44,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 11,700 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Maravai LifeSciences by 4.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Maravai LifeSciences by 38.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 32,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 8,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.25% of the company’s stock.

About Maravai LifeSciences

Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc, a life sciences company, provides products to enable the development of drug therapies, diagnostics, novel vaccines, and support research on human diseases worldwide. The company’s products address the key phases of biopharmaceutical development and include nucleic acids for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, antibody-based products to detect impurities during the production of biopharmaceutical products, and products to detect the expression of proteins in tissues of various species.