Precision BioSciences’ (DTIL) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $60.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Precision BioSciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

Precision BioSciences Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of Precision BioSciences stock opened at $4.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.50. Precision BioSciences has a 12-month low of $3.61 and a 12-month high of $15.97. The company has a current ratio of 9.22, a quick ratio of 9.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $36.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.35 and a beta of 1.59.

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($3.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.09) by ($1.11). The business had revenue of $3.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 million. Precision BioSciences had a negative return on equity of 23.69% and a net margin of 11.48%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Precision BioSciences will post -1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Precision BioSciences

In related news, insider J. Jefferson Smith sold 10,287 shares of Precision BioSciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total value of $49,274.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 87,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $418,837.60. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Amoroso sold 36,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.67, for a total value of $172,033.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $500,096.29. This represents a 25.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,243 shares of company stock worth $227,424 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precision BioSciences

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Precision BioSciences by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in Precision BioSciences in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in Precision BioSciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Precision BioSciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Precision BioSciences by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 65,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 19,088 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 37.99% of the company’s stock.

Precision BioSciences Company Profile

Precision BioSciences, Inc, an advanced gene editing company, develops in vivo gene editing therapies for gene edits, including gene elimination, insertion, and excision in the United States. The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to DNA genome insertion, deletion, and repair. It also provides PBGENE-HBV for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA with direct cuts and edits as well as to inactivate integrated HBV DNA with the goal of long-lasting reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen; PBGENE-PMM for the treatment of m.3243 associated primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM) which is expected to submit an IND and/or CTA.