Zacks Research Downgrades Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) to Hold

Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ARVN. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Arvinas from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore set a $14.00 target price on shares of Arvinas in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Arvinas from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Arvinas in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Arvinas from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arvinas currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.17.

Arvinas Stock Performance

ARVN opened at $9.39 on Thursday. Arvinas has a fifty-two week low of $6.97 and a fifty-two week high of $14.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $605.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.91 and a beta of 1.75.

Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $2.95. Arvinas had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $249.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.71 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.84) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1014.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arvinas will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arvinas

In other news, CFO Andrew Saik sold 5,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total transaction of $46,479.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 187,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,529,445.12. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arvinas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Arvinas in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,232,000. TCG Crossover Management LLC purchased a new position in Arvinas during the 3rd quarter worth $13,780,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Arvinas by 469.1% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,207,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,286,000 after buying an additional 995,125 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Arvinas by 154.8% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,486,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,668,000 after buying an additional 903,337 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arvinas by 208.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,310,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,198,000 after buying an additional 885,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.19% of the company’s stock.

About Arvinas

Arvinas, Inc (NASDAQ: ARVN) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies based on targeted protein degradation. Utilizing its proprietary proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC®) platform, Arvinas aims to selectively eliminate disease-causing proteins rather than merely inhibit their activity. This novel approach has the potential to address a range of diseases, including oncology, neurodegeneration and inflammation, by harnessing the body’s natural protein-recycling systems.

The company’s most advanced clinical candidates address hormone-driven cancers.