Holdings Venture Globalharvest Acquires 650,415 Shares of Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Stock

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest acquired 650,415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.73 per share, with a total value of $8,279,782.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 11,191,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,465,910.96. The trade was a 6.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Holdings Venture Globalharvest also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 8th, Holdings Venture Globalharvest bought 687,222 shares of Mission Produce stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.42 per share, for a total transaction of $9,222,519.24.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, Holdings Venture Globalharvest bought 491,865 shares of Mission Produce stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.40 per share, for a total transaction of $6,590,991.00.

Mission Produce Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Mission Produce stock opened at $13.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.72 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.88. Mission Produce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.07 and a 12-month high of $15.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Mission Produce declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, June 8th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Mission Produce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 809.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 444,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,111,000 after acquiring an additional 395,287 shares in the last quarter. RBF Capital LLC lifted its position in Mission Produce by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. RBF Capital LLC now owns 104,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in Mission Produce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $192,000. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Mission Produce in the first quarter worth approximately $23,756,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Mission Produce by 437.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 361,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,979,000 after buying an additional 294,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AVO shares. UBS Group set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Freedom Capital raised Mission Produce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Mission Produce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mission Produce from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is a leading global supplier, packer and distributor of fresh avocados, serving retail, foodservice and industrial customers. The company manages a vertically integrated supply chain that spans sourcing, post-harvest handling, packing and ripening. Through proprietary ripening technologies and cold-chain logistics, Mission Produce delivers consistent quality and extended shelf life for its avocado offerings.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Oxnard, California, Mission Produce grew from a regional packing operation into a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AVO.