Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $34.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.59, but opened at $28.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Agios Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $28.6680, with a volume of 2,098,761 shares traded.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup started coverage on Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agios Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.00.

Insider Activity

In other Agios Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Cecilia Jones sold 3,651 shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.77, for a total transaction of $134,247.27. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 33,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,245,399.90. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sarah Gheuens sold 3,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.92, for a total transaction of $145,023.84. Following the sale, the insider owned 61,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,711,049.84. This represents a 5.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,553 shares of company stock valued at $305,001. Company insiders own 4.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 28.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 107,367 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 23,852 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 207.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 8,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,776 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 114,947 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,368,000 after buying an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 93,627 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after buying an additional 23,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $1,485,000.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 16.6%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.36. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10 and a beta of 0.87.

Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.78) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.93) by $0.15. Agios Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 895.86% and a negative return on equity of 28.35%. The firm had revenue of $12.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $16.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -6.85 EPS for the current year.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2008 as a spin-out from research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Agios focuses on understanding and targeting cellular metabolism to develop novel therapies for cancer and rare genetic diseases. The company’s scientific platform integrates genomic discovery, metabolic profiling and precision medicine approaches to identify and advance small-molecule candidates that correct or exploit metabolic dysfunction.

Agios’s lead products are IDH (isocitrate dehydrogenase) inhibitors that target specific cancer mutations.