Savara (NASDAQ:SVRA) Shares Up 8.1% – Still a Buy?

Savara Inc (NASDAQ:SVRA)’s stock price shot up 8.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $2.96 and last traded at $2.94. 527,976 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 881,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SVRA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Savara in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright decreased their target price on Savara from $10.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $5.00 price target (down previously from $7.00) on shares of Savara in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Savara in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.86.

Savara Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 17.70 and a current ratio of 17.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $502.85 million, a PE ratio of -6.81 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.87.

Savara (NASDAQ:SVRA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). Sell-side analysts forecast that Savara Inc will post -0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Matthew Pauls sold 54,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.31, for a total value of $181,063.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,536,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,085,414.49. This trade represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph S. Mccracken bought 20,000 shares of Savara stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.95 per share, for a total transaction of $59,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 210,837 shares in the company, valued at $621,969.15. This represents a 10.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Savara

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Savara during the second quarter valued at about $59,000. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Savara during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Savara in the third quarter worth $67,000. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Savara during the second quarter worth $105,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Savara by 258.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 18,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

About Savara

Savara Inc, formerly Mast Therapeutics, Inc, is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of patients with rare respiratory diseases. Its pipeline includes AeroVanc, Molgradex and AIR001. AeroVanc is an inhaled formulation of vancomycin, which the Company is developing for the treatment of persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, lung infection in cystic fibrosis patients.