Wall Street Zen Upgrades Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) to “Sell”

Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ARVN. Citigroup boosted their target price on Arvinas from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Arvinas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Arvinas from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Arvinas in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Arvinas from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arvinas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.42.

Arvinas Price Performance

ARVN opened at $8.22 on Friday. Arvinas has a one year low of $6.05 and a one year high of $14.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $530.36 million, a P/E ratio of -2.48 and a beta of 1.74.

Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.05. Arvinas had a negative net margin of 247.54% and a negative return on equity of 44.38%. The firm had revenue of $15.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Arvinas’s revenue was down 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arvinas will post -2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arvinas

In other news, CFO Andrew Saik sold 5,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total value of $46,479.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 187,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,529,445.12. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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. Also, insider Noah Berkowitz sold 11,108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.94, for a total value of $110,413.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 191,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,466.30. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,728 shares of company stock worth $402,649. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arvinas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Arvinas by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arvinas by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 32,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Arvinas by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Arvinas by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 38,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in Arvinas by 15.5% during the second quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP now owns 16,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.19% of the company’s stock.

Arvinas Company Profile

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.