Zacks Research Downgrades Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB) to Strong Sell

Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Nuvation Bio from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Nuvation Bio in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Nuvation Bio in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial set a $13.00 price objective on Nuvation Bio in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nuvation Bio in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nuvation Bio has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.50.

Nuvation Bio Price Performance

Nuvation Bio stock opened at $4.73 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.93. Nuvation Bio has a 1 year low of $1.57 and a 1 year high of $9.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 7.24 and a current ratio of 7.44.

Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.04. Nuvation Bio had a negative net margin of 102.06% and a negative return on equity of 44.10%. The firm had revenue of $83.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.22 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nuvation Bio will post -0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kerry Wentworth sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.52, for a total value of $904,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 53,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,560. This trade represents a 79.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Dongfang Liu sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.02, for a total value of $251,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 18,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,360. The trade was a 73.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 286,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,118. 30.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuvation Bio

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nuvation Bio by 8.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,031,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,423,000 after buying an additional 78,946 shares in the last quarter. Tanaka Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Nuvation Bio by 7.2% during the first quarter. Tanaka Capital Management Inc. now owns 901,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,869,000 after buying an additional 60,220 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nuvation Bio during the first quarter worth about $187,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Nuvation Bio by 181.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 36,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 23,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Nuvation Bio by 42.2% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 303,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 90,114 shares in the last quarter. 61.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nuvation Bio Company Profile

Nuvation Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing small-molecule therapies for patients with cancer. The company employs an integrated research and development platform that spans target identification, preclinical evaluation, process chemistry, and early-stage clinical trials. By centralizing these capabilities, Nuvation Bio aims to accelerate the translation of promising drug candidates from laboratory research to first-in-human studies.

The company’s pipeline comprises multiple oncology programs, with small-molecule kinase inhibitors and targeted agents in Phase 1 development for both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.