Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) Shares Down 5.1% – Here’s Why

Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) traded down 5.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $13.61 and last traded at $13.59. 252,017 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 413,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EMBC shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Embecta from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Embecta from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

Embecta Stock Down 6.7 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.51. The company has a market cap of $776.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.27.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.20. Embecta had a negative return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 5.25%. On average, analysts forecast that Embecta Corp. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Embecta Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Embecta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Insider Transactions at Embecta

In other Embecta news, Director Milton Mayo Morris sold 3,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.38, for a total value of $50,778.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $591,858.54. The trade was a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Embecta

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Embecta by 175.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Embecta in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Embecta by 796.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Embecta during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in Embecta during the 4th quarter worth about $77,000. Institutional investors own 93.83% of the company’s stock.

About Embecta

Embecta Corp., a medical device company, focuses on the provision of various solutions to enhance the health and wellbeing of people living with diabetes. Its products include pen needles, syringes, and safety injection devices, as well as digital applications to assist people with managing patient's diabetes.