Savara Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:SVRA)

Savara Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 2,182 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 290% compared to the average volume of 560 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Savara

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SVRA. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Savara by 96.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 652,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,564,000 after buying an additional 320,572 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Savara in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,532,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Savara in the 2nd quarter worth about $76,966,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Savara in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,977,150. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Savara in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,328,000. 87.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SVRA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Savara in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on Savara in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Savara in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. HC Wainwright began coverage on Savara in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Savara from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.29.

Savara Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:SVRA traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.64. 3,231,097 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,904,953. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.61 and a beta of 0.32. Savara has a 52 week low of $4.13 and a 52 week high of $7.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.34. The company has a quick ratio of 10.13, a current ratio of 8.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Savara (NASDAQ:SVRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.01. On average, equities research analysts predict that Savara will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Savara Company Profile

Savara is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for serious and rare respiratory diseases. The company is based in the United States and concentrates its research and development efforts on conditions with limited treatment options. Savara’s lead product candidate is molgramostim, an inhaled form of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). It has been developed as a potential treatment for autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, a rare lung disease in which the buildup of material in the air sacs can impair breathing.