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

Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVI) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.45, but opened at $2.52. Maravai LifeSciences shares last traded at $2.61, with a volume of 126,709 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRVI. Baird R W lowered shares of Maravai LifeSciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Maravai LifeSciences in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Maravai LifeSciences from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $7.00 to $4.25 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Maravai LifeSciences from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $3.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Maravai LifeSciences from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Maravai LifeSciences has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.28.

Maravai LifeSciences Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $642.68 million, a P/E ratio of -1.55 and a beta of -0.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.30 and its 200-day moving average is $6.02. The company has a quick ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 10.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maravai LifeSciences

In related news, General Counsel Kurt Oreshack sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.03, for a total transaction of $125,750.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Maravai LifeSciences by 1,172.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,050,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,658,000 after buying an additional 3,731,924 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Maravai LifeSciences by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,329,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,045,000 after purchasing an additional 3,161,072 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Maravai LifeSciences by 17,912.9% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,778,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,763,072 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Maravai LifeSciences in the third quarter worth about $22,108,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Maravai LifeSciences by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,664,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062,485 shares in the last quarter. 50.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.