StockNews.com Upgrades Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PBYI) to “Strong-Buy”

Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PBYI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Puma Biotechnology in a research note on Friday.

Puma Biotechnology Stock Up 19.7 %

NASDAQ PBYI opened at $3.58 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.02 and a 200-day moving average of $2.86. The company has a market cap of $175.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Puma Biotechnology has a 1-year low of $2.22 and a 1-year high of $7.15.

Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PBYI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $59.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.50 million. Puma Biotechnology had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 41.60%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Puma Biotechnology will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Alan H. Auerbach sold 33,841 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.15, for a total value of $106,599.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,029,674 shares in the company, valued at $22,143,473.10. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Jerome Ludwig sold 9,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.15, for a total value of $29,726.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 108,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $343,195.65. The trade was a 7.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 23.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Puma Biotechnology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acorn Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Puma Biotechnology in the fourth quarter valued at $7,475,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Puma Biotechnology by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 948,376 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 73,833 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Puma Biotechnology by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 863,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 170,968 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Puma Biotechnology by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 809,375 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,469,000 after acquiring an additional 216,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Puma Biotechnology by 17.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,542 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 87,504 shares during the last quarter. 61.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Puma Biotechnology Company Profile

Puma Biotechnology, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of products to enhance cancer care in the United States and internationally. The company offers NERLYNX, an oral version of neratinib that is used to treat adult patients with early stage HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer; and advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer when combined with capecitabine.