Innoviva (NASDAQ:INVA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Innoviva (NASDAQ:INVA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday.

Separately, Scotiabank began coverage on Innoviva in a report on Friday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock.

Innoviva Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:INVA opened at $17.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.79. Innoviva has a 1 year low of $14.33 and a 1 year high of $21.28.

Innoviva (NASDAQ:INVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter. Innoviva had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 18.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Innoviva will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innoviva

In other Innoviva news, major shareholder Alexander J. Denner sold 1,196,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total value of $20,966,989.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,658,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,140,511.60. This represents a 17.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Innoviva

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Innoviva by 355.8% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 296,238 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,140,000 after acquiring an additional 231,238 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Innoviva by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 140,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 8,875 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Innoviva by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 26,687 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Innoviva by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 343,216 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,955,000 after acquiring an additional 7,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Innoviva by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 2,029,069 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,204,000 after acquiring an additional 49,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.12% of the company’s stock.

About Innoviva

Innoviva, Inc engages in the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. The company’s products include RELVAR/BREO ELLIPTA, a once-daily combination medicine consisting of a LABA, vilanterol (VI), an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), and fluticasone furoate; ANORO ELLIPTA, a once-daily medicine combining a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and umeclidinium bromide (UMEC) with a LABA, VI; GIAPREZA (angiotensin II), a vasoconstrictor to increase blood pressure in adults with septic or other distributive shock; XERAVA (eravacycline) for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections in adults; and XACDURO, a beta lactamase inhibitor for the treatment of hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia.