Maravai LifeSciences Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MRVI)

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

Maravai LifeSciences Price Performance

MRVI opened at $4.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 10.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.06. Maravai LifeSciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.28 and a fifty-two week high of $11.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01 and a beta of -0.08.

Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ:MRVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $65.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Maravai LifeSciences will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maravai LifeSciences

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Maravai LifeSciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $311,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Maravai LifeSciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Maravai LifeSciences by 35.6% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 44,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 11,700 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Maravai LifeSciences by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 1,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Maravai LifeSciences by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 32,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 8,863 shares during the period. 50.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRVI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Maravai LifeSciences from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Maravai LifeSciences from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $4.25 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Maravai LifeSciences in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Maravai LifeSciences from $17.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Maravai LifeSciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.28.

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.