Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN) gapped down prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $6.94, but opened at $5.36. Precigen shares last traded at $5.1150, with a volume of 4,272,484 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGEN. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on Precigen in a report on Friday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Precigen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research lowered Precigen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Precigen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.67.

Precigen Trading Up 2.1%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.89, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.01.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. Precigen had a positive return on equity of 423.75% and a negative net margin of 183.98%. The company had revenue of $54.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.98 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6322.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Precigen, Inc. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 185,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.44, for a total transaction of $1,376,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,224. The trade was a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Rutul R. Shah sold 34,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total value of $259,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 465,012 shares in the company, valued at $3,487,590. The trade was a 6.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 267,739 shares of company stock worth $1,975,990 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 41.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Precigen

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Precigen by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 52,532 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Precigen by 0.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 374,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in Precigen by 10.6% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 44,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Precigen by 10.5% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Precigen during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for cancer and serious diseases. The company uses its proprietary UltraCAR-T, AdenoVerse, and other gene-engineering platforms to design potential treatments intended to improve the targeting, persistence, and manufacturing of therapeutic cells and genetic medicines.

Precigen’s pipeline has included PRGN-2012, an investigational immunotherapy based on a gorilla adenovector for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, as well as PRGN-2001, an investigational HPV-targeted immunotherapy.