Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $7.83 and last traded at $7.74, with a volume of 667070 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PGEN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Precigen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.50.

Precigen Trading Up 6.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.97. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.56 and a beta of 1.02.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $54.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.98 million. Precigen had a positive return on equity of 423.75% and a negative net margin of 183.98%.The firm’s revenue was up 6322.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Precigen, Inc. will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey Kindler sold 185,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.44, for a total transaction of $1,376,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,224. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Harry Thomasian, Jr. sold 171,429 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.53, for a total transaction of $948,002.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 354,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,960,578.55. This trade represents a 32.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 991,271 shares of company stock valued at $6,208,620 over the last quarter. 41.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Precigen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PGEN. Patient Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Precigen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,511,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Precigen in the second quarter worth $97,737,000. Occam Crest Management LP raised its position in shares of Precigen by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Occam Crest Management LP now owns 3,501,739 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,637,000 after buying an additional 799,339 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Precigen during the second quarter valued at $10,536,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Precigen by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 891,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,726,000 after buying an additional 260,824 shares in the last quarter. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Precigen

Precigen, Inc (NASDAQ:PGEN) is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company uses its synthetic biology platforms to engineer targeted medicines designed to improve treatment effectiveness, durability and safety.

Precigen’s technology portfolio includes its UltraCAR-T platform for developing next-generation CAR-T cell therapies, the AdenoVerse platform for gene delivery and immunotherapy applications, and ActoBiotics technology for the localized delivery of therapeutic proteins.