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 issued on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Innoviva in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock.

Innoviva Price Performance

NASDAQ:INVA opened at $18.69 on Wednesday. Innoviva has a 52-week low of $15.01 and a 52-week high of $21.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.78 and a 200 day moving average of $18.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09 and a beta of 0.48.

Innoviva (NASDAQ:INVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Innoviva will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Alexander J. Denner sold 1,196,746 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction of $20,966,989.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,658,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,140,511.60. This trade represents a 17.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Innoviva

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Innoviva by 254.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,594 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,942,000 after buying an additional 72,192 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Innoviva by 14.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 578,243 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,166,000 after purchasing an additional 72,039 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Innoviva during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Innoviva by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,932,113 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $50,872,000 after purchasing an additional 121,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Innoviva by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 187,318 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,250,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. 99.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.