Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ:MRVI) Shares Up 9.3% – Still a Buy?

Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVI) shares shot up 9.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $2.80 and last traded at $2.92. 1,372,755 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 3,067,565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MRVI shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Maravai LifeSciences from $17.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Maravai LifeSciences in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Maravai LifeSciences in a report on Friday, November 8th. Baird R W lowered Maravai LifeSciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Maravai LifeSciences from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Maravai LifeSciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.28.

Maravai LifeSciences Trading Up 10.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 9.94 and a current ratio of 10.74. The company has a market capitalization of $746.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.80 and a beta of -0.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 167,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,118.54. This trade represents a 12.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRVI. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Maravai LifeSciences by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,329,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,045,000 after purchasing an additional 3,161,072 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Maravai LifeSciences by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,664,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062,485 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Maravai LifeSciences by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,250,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,166,000 after buying an additional 200,411 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Maravai LifeSciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,611,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,683,000 after buying an additional 62,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Maravai LifeSciences by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,990,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,298,000 after buying an additional 9,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.