Savara (NASDAQ:SVRA) Shares Up 8.1% – Should You Buy?

Savara Inc (NASDAQ:SVRA) shares rose 8.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $2.96 and last traded at $2.94. Approximately 527,976 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 881,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SVRA. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on shares of 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 objective (down previously from $7.00) on shares of Savara in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Savara in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Savara in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.86.

Savara Stock Up 11.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $521.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.07 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 17.70 and a quick ratio of 17.70.

Savara (NASDAQ:SVRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). Sell-side analysts anticipate that Savara Inc will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Savara

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vestal Point Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Savara by 24.7% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 8,090,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,000 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. raised its position in Savara by 103.9% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 8,157,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,874,000 after buying an additional 4,157,385 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Savara by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,726,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,564,000 after acquiring an additional 264,825 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Savara by 238.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 911,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,865,000 after acquiring an additional 642,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Savara by 198.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 5,180,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,879,000 after acquiring an additional 3,443,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Savara Company Profile

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.